Hello, 2024: Here are Team What's On resolutions for the new year
And the believability rating according to our deputy editor, Miles Buckeridge…
We asked for willpower for Christmas. We didn’t get it, so in the classic ‘new year, new me’ tradition, the What’s On team has set some entirely unrealistic personal goals and self-vetos for 2024. The deputy editor has given each a rating out of 10 for the likelihood of followthrough.
Here are Team What’s On resolutions for 2024
Alice Holtham, Group Editor
RESO: reduce my screen time
I’ve got a few resolutions this year. Stop biting my nails: a resolution that returns year in, year out. Learn Arabic, beyond the embarrassingly scant few words I’ve picked up in the last near-decade. But my main focus is to spend less time glued to the screen that’s rarely out of my left palm, and more time being present in the real-life things going on around me.
Editor’s believability rating: 2/10
Miles Buckeridge, Deputy Editor
RESO: quitting the vapes
My relationship with nicotine has been a Sovietly-bleak story of toxic codependence. “I need to give this up” he says, taking another puff. But the start of a new year represents perhaps the strongest arbitrary stop date in the calendar. And I’m bringing out the big guns this time: Paul McKenna hypnosis audiobooks and scattered chewing gum stashes.
Editor’s believability rating: 2/10 (and the rest of the team agrees)
Dinesh Ramanathan, Deputy Editor
RESO: positivity
I’m aiming to adopt more of a glass-half-full mindset. We’re living at a go-go-go pace and sometimes, we forget what we have and how fortunate we are to have it. In 2024, I aim to be more mindful of this and be grateful for what I have, and also give back to the less fortunate.
Editor’s believability rating: 8/10
Aarti Saundalkar, Online Reporter
RESO: work-life balance
Striking a work-life balance for me is always a struggle. I want more time for me – to read, to exercise, to meet friends, to chill and even get enough sleep. So, this year, I aim to consciously figure out the right balance for me. It may take me some time, and I may fail (a lot) at first, but I am hoping I will get there in the end.
Editor’s believability rating: 3/10
Tamara Wright, Online Reporter
RESO: to embrace being four-eyed and fabulous
Despite being told, twice now, that I “must” wear my glasses “at all times” – I seem to be in denial. The thing is, I love a good pair of specs on others, they just get uncomfortable after a while when I wear them. So my mission is to find a spec- tacular (sorry, couldn’t resist!), comfortable pair that suit my subscription needs, and actually wear them.
Editor’s believability rating: 2/10
Shelby Gee, Junior Online Reporter
RESO: taking the bull by the horns
I would say I’m already a mildly spontaneous person. But this year I’m going to focus on saying ‘yes’ to even more. Yes, to going to the beach with friends, even though I want to stay in on a weekend. Yes, to taking myself out for drinks or treating myself to a nice dinner. I’m going to let 2024 be a year of yes. I hope.
Editor’s believability rating: 7/10
Manaal Fatimah, Junior Online Reporter
RESO: stop fruit-dodging
As much as I would like to, I just don’t care about fruit. The vegetable stuff, I can do, but if all fruit was wiped from existence tomorrow, it would make absolutely no difference to me. I tolerate the berry and the citrus varieties, so that’s probably where I begin, but some rewiring will be required to start considering those as valid sources of sugar.
Editor’s believability rating: 2/10