Syndrome: New Year resolutions

by Nilma Dole

'Don't make promises you can't keep' a familiar proverb comes to mind when thinking about New Year Resolutions. Why is it difficult to stick to new year resolutions and why do most of us end up breaking them? Why is it difficult to make a promise to overcome a bad habit or an obsession only to realise that it is virtually impossible to stand by it?

A new year resolution is a promise or a pledge that is to make ourselves better people to avoid or do away with a bad habit or a negative characteristic that we possess. More often than not, most of us don't realise that major changes do not happen overnight.
Rome was never built in a day and true to this effect, we must make a pledge that is possible gradually as time passes. Most of the time, resolutions require prompt action that is needed to overcome a certain bad habit but the individual should realise that little by little only is this effective.

One thinks, "I'm making a promise to myself to keep my word hence I made this resolution." What they should think is whether it is possible and will you reach this goal. For example, say a certain individual makes a new year resolution to stop smoking.

Resolutions are made to 'stop it immediately' but without realising the consequences. Smoking can be labelled as a dangerous addiction that cannot be really stopped overnight.

It calls for patience and will power on the part of the individual who needs to overcome this addiction. Sometimes, you need a substitute for an addiction but one that does not damage, like drinking (de-caffinated) coffee. Smoking not only damages your health, it can be potentially dangerous to those around you (who inhale secondhand smoke).

Also it burns a hole in your pocket because in Sri Lanka where taxes on cigarettes are prevalent, smoking is an expensive addiction. The individual making the resolution should weigh the pros and cons of the promise and see how it will benefit them.

By focusing on the good sides of the promise, the resolution-makers will be positively driven to achieve their goals. Sheer determination and will power can only be the vital elements of reaching your goal because if it isn't beneficial to the resolution-maker, then what purpose does it have?

So make resolutions you can keep and make sure you stand by them through thick and thin. Do not falter and do not feel disheartened if you can't stick to it from the first day itself.

When you think that you are breaking your resolution, just remember the downsides of it and then think that you can overcome it. A new year resolution doesn't stand for only a year but forever. So stand by it and make it beneficial to you. All the best!