Friends Talking Nerdy: A Mental Health Podcast · Tee Kittle/Tim Jousma/Aubrey Baldwin

Talking About The Holidays: New Year's Resolutions - Episode 441

·1 hr 19 min·5 clips

Professor Aubrey says shame makes health goals harder by putting people in a negative state.

1. Friends Talking Nerdy: A Mental Health Podcast closes its holiday series with a discussion of New Year's resolutions. 2. Tim the Nerd hosts Professor Aubrey, whose mental-health perspective shapes the discussion of shame, habits, therapy, and realistic goals. 3. The episode asks whether resolutions help people change or create promises so aspirational that failing them becomes demoralizing. 4. Tim describes writing his first book longhand in his twenties by using lunch breaks and half-hours after his children went to sleep. 5. The book-writing example leads the hosts to distinguish realistic goals from a 500-page project that overwhelms someone on page two. 6. Physical-health resolutions named by the hosts include exercising more, losing weight, sleeping better, and drinking more water. 7. Tim says missing exercise on Friday can cause someone to treat the entire resolution as broken, a pattern gyms may financially anticipate. 8. Professor Aubrey describes a $25-per-month gym model in which low prices make unused memberships financially sustainable. 9. Tim uses training for a 5K to argue that someone should assess current fitness and allow several months rather than assume one month is enough. 10. Professor Aubrey says recurring classes organized by three-month quarters or semesters create natural restart points after someone stops attending. 11. Professor Aubrey calls shame "the thief of many things" and says it makes movement from a negative state toward a positive state more difficult. 12. Tim argues that losing seven pounds instead of ten still represents progress and should not trigger self-punishment. 13. The hosts discuss Apple Watches, Fitbits, and activity trackers that record steps, calories, standing, flights climbed, and cardiovascular exercise. 14. Professor Aubrey notes that tracking can become maladaptive when counting activity becomes obsessive, while Tim calls technology a useful cheerleader when used appropriately. 15. Mental-health resolutions mentioned include mindfulness, therapy, journaling, stress management, boundary setting, and practicing gratitude. 16. Tim suggests replacing an absolute goal such as never relapsing with the daily commitment, "I'm not going to drink today." 17. Financial resolutions include budgeting, debt reduction, saving, investing, automatic savings transfers, and using pen and paper instead of an unnecessary spreadsheet. 18. Relationship resolutions include calling friends, improving communication, weekly partner check-ins, invitations, and recurring calendar reminders. 19. Listeners seeking kinder, more realistic health and life goals will find practical examples here. 20. People wanting rigid, instant transformation plans may prefer a different discussion.

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