And when you wake up ready to say,
“I think I’ll make a snappy new day.” 

Fred Rogers

INTRODUCTION

It’s time to wish virtually everyone (including strangers on the street) a hearty “Happy New Year!” Being social creatures, we often actually mean it, and when most of the folks to whom we extend that hope-filled greeting reciprocate, we get the warm and fuzzy feeling of inclusion. We now have a common purpose, at least before the buzz of the New Year goes flat like the last few ounces at the bottom of the Dom Perignon bottle.

But the buzz hasn’t been killed, Friends; it has found new life, resuscitated by the New year’s resolutions that 40 percent of American adults have by now written with shaky hands on crumpled napkins decorated with balloons. These goals, resolutions, promises, vows, call ‘em what you like, are some variation of the usual suspects in the resolution lineup.

For most of us, though, these threadbare self-improvement schemes have become all too familiar because they all too often result in varying degrees of failure for the Resolvers.