The Morning: The case for resolutions

Plus, a plane crash in South Korea, travel to Afghanistan and the 2024 Faces Quiz.

View in browser|nytimes.com December 29, 2024 Good morning. Today, we're covering New Year's resolutions. We're also covering a plane crash in South Korea, travel to Afghanistan and the 2024 Faces Quiz. In New York City. Marcus Yam for The New York Times Self-improvement By Lyna Bentahar I write for The Morning. Does it feel like there's something gauche — maybe a little anachronistic — about New Year's resolutions? They run counter to the idea that we should accept who we are. That we should give ourselves grace. "Do you have any New Year's resolutions?" It's a question that asks someone to believe they are inadequate. And I get that. My colleague Melissa Kirsch argues that resolutions shouldn't be so grand that we set ourselves up to fail. Maybe it's better to admit we won't improve in the new year — a dose of realism with our Champagne. No thanks. I love resolutions, and I love hearing what work other people choose to do on themselves. I think there's a way to be better without believing you are deficient. A New Year's resolution is an opportunity to give myself a sense of accomplishment. A gift to future me. I've begun writing an annual list of things I want to do in the new year. This morning, I want to write my resolutions with you — and hopefully convince you to craft your own ideas for self-improvement. That subject — "self-improvement" — is a bookstore section with a million entries. And real scholarship has looked at how people change, or try to. There are techniques that work for anyone hoping to make a change. But for me, I follow three rules. It has to be measurable. "Eat at home more" might be a resolution, but it's vague enough that you'll never be accountable. "Eat at home five times a week" is a resolution. It has to be realistic. There's no way I can exercise for an hour every day for a month. Life gets in the way, and everyone needs rest. But exercise 10 times in a month? That's definitely something I can do. You have to want to do it. The truth is, I hate cardio and strength training. It wouldn't be any good for me to write those down as resolutions, because they're just chores. But I love yoga. It's fun and relaxing. I feel accomplished and confident when I become more flexible. Here's what I'm writing on my paper: Do yoga for an hour 10 times in one month. Don't bite your nails for two consecutive months. See the dentist twice this year. Paint a painting. Ride a roller coaster. Make a new friend. (This one's going to be a hard one.) Then I fold the list up and put it away. That's right. It's gone from my life. I don't look at it until the end of the year. This isn't homework. There's no final exam. A new start is more like extra credit. If I made my list right, at the end of the year, I'll find that I accomplished a lot of what I set out to do. Not everything, of course — I've tried to quit biting my nails before, but I haven't yet crossed it off. Yet my resolutions usually work out. Why? Taking the time to think about what you want to do and who you want to be is the hardest part. Writing it down sets you up to be mindful of yourself and your goals. The satisfaction of crossing your resolutions off at the end of the year (or the self-reflection about why you weren't able to) will motivate you to keep improving. Best of all, there's no pressure. We have an entire year to work on them. In fact, I can cross off something from my previous list right now: Publish an article in The New York Times. THE LATEST NEWS Plane Crash At Muan International Airport in South Korea.  Chang W. Lee/The New York Times A plane carrying 181 people crashed while landing at an airport in South Korea. Two people survived, but most of those on board are presumed dead. Officials are investigating what caused the crash. They said the airport had warned the plane's crew about a potential bird strike. The plane sped down the runway on its belly, hit a barrier and exploded into a fireball. See footage of the crash. South Korea has been in a political crisis. The crash is a test for its latest acting president, who took office on Friday. Israel-Hamas War As mediators try to secure a cease-fire deal, people in Gaza say the humanitarian situation is growing worse. Benjamin Netanyahu will have surgery to remove his prostate. Russia Vladimir Putin apologized for the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash that killed 38 people, but stopped short of taking responsibility for it. To get around oil sanctions, Russia assembled a "shadow fleet" of hundreds of ships. Western leaders fear it could also be used to cut undersea cables. Politics Donald Trump appeared to weigh in on a debate among his supporters over visas for skilled immigrant workers. He backed the program, saying his businesses had used the visas. In 2020, Trump tried to ban TikTok. Now, he is opposing the Biden administration's effort to ban it. Business leaders in Mexico hope Trump is bluffing about tariffs. They want him to encourage investment there instead of China. Other Big Stories In Band-e-Amir national park, Afghanistan. Elise Blanchard for The New York Times People are ignoring travel warnings and visiting Afghanistan. The Taliban say they welcome foreign travelers. An underground church for L.G.B.T.Q. people in Kenya has been forced to move 10 times in 10 years. Despite attacks, it's thriving. As climate change and the threat of flooding intensifies, some people are paying to have their homes lifted. A man lived at the New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan for five years, paying only for his first night. His son was desperate to escape. Read the boy's story. THE SUNDAY DEBATE Is Biden's commutation of 37 death sentences a win for death penalty abolitionists? No. Biden left three people on death row, implying that execution is acceptable in some cases. "In the larger debate of ideas, death penalty abolitionists lost a round," The Washington Post's Charles Lane writes. Yes. The three remaining death row prisoners are seeking appeals, making it almost impossible for another execution to occur any time soon. "President Biden has lived up to his promise as the first president to openly oppose capital punishment," Russ Feingold writes for The Hill. FROM OPINION Tariffs will hurt other countries more than American consumers, Eswar Prasad argues. Telehealth is an opportunity for doctors to speak to patients without distractions. Helen Ouyang writes that virtual appointments made her a better doctor. Here's a column by Frank Bruni on the year's best sentences. The Holiday Sale ends soon. Subscribe to Cooking. Main dishes. Side dishes. And all the cookies, too. Cooking recipes are for every taste and skill level. Save on your first year. MORNING READS The New York Times Most popular: The 2024 Faces Quiz was the most clicked article in The Morning this week. Play it here. Old masters: He grew up poor and once drove a taxi. So how did he become a major art collector and donor? N.F.L.: With two weeks left in the season, 10 teams are still in the hunt for unclaimed playoff spots. See a team-by-team breakdown. Flying? Here's how to actually sleep on a plane. Social Q's: "Sharing a bedroom with my partner and her siblings for the holidays. Odd or not?" Trauma: Taffy Brodesser-Akner wrote a story about it. Readers wrote in about their own. Vows: They shared the spotlight on their wedding day with an aunt. Lives Lived: Kirsten Simone was a leading ballerina in Denmark and then worldwide. She also played a version of herself in a Disney TV movie. She died at 90. THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE Photograph by Lawrence Schiller Click the cover image above to read this week's magazine. BOOKS Editors' picks: "What in Me Is Dark," about the impact of Milton's "Paradise Lost," and four other books. Coming soon: Novels by Adam Ross and Han Kang are expected next month. See what to read in January. Ahead of its time: Robert Coover's "The Public Burning" was so outrageous in 1977 that it nearly wasn't published. Reality has caught up to his masterpiece, Alexander Nazaryan writes. Obituary: Michel del Castillo, a Franco-Spanish writer whose wrenching chronicle of a childhood spent in World War II concentration camps brought him renown on both sides of the Atlantic, died at 91. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Upgrade your dishwasher. See the seven new shows our theater critics are talking about. Travel with Wirecutter's favorite accessories of 2024. MEAL PLAN Christopher Testani for The New York Times In the "Five Weeknight Dishes" newsletter, Emily Weinstein shares one-pot dinners that are nice but also casual — cozy, even — for the lazy days between Christmas and New Year's Day, when you want to be anywhere but in the kitchen doing the dishes. They include chicken and rice with ginger and lemony shrimp and bean stew. NOW TIME TO PLAY Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangrams were connective, convention, convective, convenient, convention, eviction and inconvenient. Can you put eight historical events — including the publication of "The Color Purple" and Pope Boniface VIII's declaration of the Jubilee — in chronological order? Take this week's Flashback quiz. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for the Morning newsletter from The New York Times, or as part of your New York Times account. To stop receiving The Morning, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. Subscribe to The TimesGet The New York Times app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018