Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is still currently on hiatus, but that didn’t stop the show from posting yet another web exclusive short. Last time, host John Oliver spoke about the fine art of re-gifting, and provided some helpful tips. This time around, he and the team at Last Week Tonight covered yet another incredibly useful topic: Resolutions (or “the exact middle ground between lying to yourself and lying to other people”).
Oliver reminded viewers that, seeing as we are now a few days into the new year, if they haven’t broken their resolutions yet, “statistically, you’re about to and that can be incredibly depressing”. The cold days, long dark nights, and perpetually grey skies of winter are enough to do that for you. Besides, who wants to start off the new year failing?
Thankfully, Oliver and the Last Week Tonight team have some very helpful advice. Rather than focus on coming up with an ideal resolution, the key is “how to revise them once you’ve failed”. Instead of setting expectations too high, it’s better to revise the meaning of the resolution. For example, he suggests redefining “exercise” as any activity that increases your heart rate; meaning waking up late for work would be considered exercising. As Oliver points out, “exercise is hard”, and everyone oversleeps from time to time. This way, “you haven’t failed in keeping your New Year’s resolutions, you’ve just succeeded in a different way”.
Alternatively, Oliver proposes setting your expectations way too high – to an unreasonable level. For example, throwing the first pitch at Yankee Stadium on the fourth of July. This way, you “won’t feel bad when they don’t happen”. After all, the key to a successful resolution is “managing disappointment”.
The segment ended with Oliver encouraging us to “enjoy your failures”, which is actually the pretty good base for a New Year’s Resolution in itself. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver gives us The Best Valentines Day present ever, when it returns to HBO on February 14.
Watch the segment below and let us know what your resolutions are in the comments. Have you kept them thus far?
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