You’re not the boss of me,” I mumbled under my breath, not wanting to do the thing I told myself I should do. Truth be told, I also utter this phrase when I know I want to change something about myself or my situation, but I don’t.

Or I do, but it’s incredibly short-lived. The difference between me and the 5-year-old is that he does the thing.

It’s a lot like New Year’s resolutions. You resolve to drink more water, go to the gym, eat better, or have date nights with your partner. But you’re running at full speed ahead, and until you’re not, you find yourself returning to your old habits.

Or, in therapy, there’s something that you want to do differently. You want to decrease your anxiety or communicate better with your partner. Only the progress feels slow, or the old habits creep back in, and before long, you feel stuck.

One thing I know that’s true about resolutions, whether therapeutic or New Year: They require some sort of change.