Photo by Katarzyna Grabowska  on Unsplash As we reach mature adulthood, many of us will have been, or are in, in long-term relationships spanning several years, if not decades. The foundations of these relationships are intertwined, habitual and consistent. When we consider long-term relationships, especially in later life, we often celebrate togetherness; the feeling of something cozy and familiar. What if the real driving force behind relationship satisfaction and relationa

Photo by Ian Schneider  on Unsplash Why do most New Year’s Resolutions fail? Every January we perform the same rituals; ‘this year I will be healthier’, ‘this is the year I stop smoking’, ‘this year I’ll work harder’, and by February, the narrative of the future self has gone quiet and we slip back into our usual routines. So…where does motivation go? Do goals disappear because we lack self-discipline? Or is it that, actually, the motivation behind these conscious goals may s

Photo by Kyrie kim  on Unsplash New beginnings are not just dates, but psychological revolutions. The first day of anything  spurs something magical; the first Monday of the month, the first day of spring, the first day of the year . What if, this ‘magic’ is not mythical, but, a deep psychological mechanism that allows our minds to carve new selves from old failures? Why is it that we feel a particular way about these kinds of landmarks, and what does that say about our attit

Photo by Content Pixie  on Unsplash The new year is a host for transformation; reinvigorated goals, new hobbies and a reimagined self. That is…until we get in our own way. But what actually is the blockage? We like to believe that change is driven by willpower, our resolute decisions stem from sheer self-discipline – the anticipation, what we will  do. Time after time, self-control is the idea at the helm, the mechanism in charge of getting things done, but it is not about se