You can't improve yourself away

Like many people, for me January is a time of putting in motion the plans I made at the tail end of last year. I have checked my pension, set up direct debits so that even more money goes into savings accounts, and began to think about where I would like to be by the end of last year.

It’s tempting at this time of year to brush away all of our faults and foibles. You will finally get on top of your finances, eat nothing but green vegetables and protein and take up mountaineering, or crossfit, or soccer to finally lose that spare tyre around your waist, and read one book a week. At least. And it must be on philosophy, preferably the sort that will show you how to finally cope with life. By you, naturally I mean me.

You have seen the error of your ways and are willing to become an agent of your own salvation.

The only hitch is that the self doing the improving is the self being improved. And that self is flawed. After all, its the self that got you in all the trouble in the first place - it’s the one that’s overweight and flabby, who can’t save enough, nor make an authentic connection when they go out and date. If it weren’t for that self, you’d already have achieved all the things holding you back.

And because that self is flawed, it means that it will inevitably fall short of the goals it sets. That’s not because of the plans it sets in motion, nor it’s ability to stick to them. Rather, all of the flaws in the old self will carry over into the old self.

People who hate the way they look will finally lose those twenty pounds, and then find that they are still dissatisfied with what they see in the mirror. Spendthrifts find it easier to live with the guilt of spending rather than the discipline of saving. Singles find they chafe with the companies of their beloved and sabotage their chance of love. Lots of people will do all three before the end of February.

This is because they didn’t improvement in the first place - what they needed was the fortitude to live with themselves as they are. Dieters need a better way to relate to their bodies and their food, spendthrifts need a way to stave off the boredom the feel in their life, and singles need a way to cope in a coupled world.

You can’t improve yourself away.