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The Paradox of Failed Resolutions - by Jillian Hess - Noted

jillianhess.substack.com · 102 words · saved by 1 readers

Ah, the seductive lure of a resolution. It’s like projecting a better version of yourself into the future, powered by ambition and a bit of willful forgetting. History is filled with such grand plans, thwarted by reality. And the evidence is all over brilliant people’s notebooks. After all, notebooks are where resolutions are made and where they are broken. Unsurprisingly, ambitious people tend to be ambitious with their goals, setting themselves up for failure—or success, depending on your perspective. And my perspective has certainly shifted after observing many successful people fail to meet their resolutions in the pages of their notebooks. Here’s what I’ve learned: Counterintuitively, making resolutions you can’t possibly keep can be incredibly useful. I owe this lesson to Samuel Johnson—whose zeal for resolutions was matched only by his inability to meet them. Yet, despite this (or because of it), he was remarkably productive, leaving behind a legacy that has shaped a good deal o

Notebooks are where resolutions are made and where they are broken. Jan 05, 2026 ∙ Paid Ah, the seductive lure of a resolution. It’s like projecting a better version of yourself into the future, powered by ambition and a bit of willful forgetting. History is filled with such grand plans, thwarted by reality. And the evidence is all over brilliant people’s notebooks. After all, notebooks are where resolutions are made and where they are bro… Keep reading with a 7-day free trial Subscribe to Noted to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

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