Summary of "You Say You Want a Resolution"
Morgan Boyd
Sara Jankowski
ENG 112
June 28, 2012
Summary of “You Say You Want A Resolution?” In Heidi Pollock’s “You Say You Want A Resolution” she discusses her philosophy on how to decide on and succeed at a New Year’s resolution. Her idea is that one should choose resolutions not because they could improve one’s life but because they could enrich one’s life in what may be an unlikely way. With a new year comes the opportunity to do new things, therefore, one’s resolution should reflect that. The example she gave in her proposal was one many attempt and often times fail; quit smoking. She says that this is not a new concept for a resolution because the knowledge that one should not smoke is “old news”. A resolution should be about a new experience that adds to one’s life. She suggests making three resolutions in three different categories of one’s life: Education/Practice, Health/Lifestyle, and most importantly Project/Task. She calls the last category the “wild card”, meant to increase one’s odds at achieving at least one of the three resolutions. She also stated five lessons to consider when working toward a resolution. Lesson one is that something that one person finds easy may be really difficult for another. Lesson two is that developing a new habit is more important than attaining an absolute goal. Lesson three suggests including “fail-safes”. One’s goal should be attainable. Lesson four is to just keep it simple. The final lesson is to plan ahead by making sure one’s resolution will be enjoyable enough to even consider. The point of her proposal is to remind her audience that if one’s resolution is pointless it will be more difficult to follow
Sara Jankowski
ENG 112
June 28, 2012
Summary of “You Say You Want A Resolution?” In Heidi Pollock’s “You Say You Want A Resolution” she discusses her philosophy on how to decide on and succeed at a New Year’s resolution. Her idea is that one should choose resolutions not because they could improve one’s life but because they could enrich one’s life in what may be an unlikely way. With a new year comes the opportunity to do new things, therefore, one’s resolution should reflect that. The example she gave in her proposal was one many attempt and often times fail; quit smoking. She says that this is not a new concept for a resolution because the knowledge that one should not smoke is “old news”. A resolution should be about a new experience that adds to one’s life. She suggests making three resolutions in three different categories of one’s life: Education/Practice, Health/Lifestyle, and most importantly Project/Task. She calls the last category the “wild card”, meant to increase one’s odds at achieving at least one of the three resolutions. She also stated five lessons to consider when working toward a resolution. Lesson one is that something that one person finds easy may be really difficult for another. Lesson two is that developing a new habit is more important than attaining an absolute goal. Lesson three suggests including “fail-safes”. One’s goal should be attainable. Lesson four is to just keep it simple. The final lesson is to plan ahead by making sure one’s resolution will be enjoyable enough to even consider. The point of her proposal is to remind her audience that if one’s resolution is pointless it will be more difficult to follow