New Year... Old RESOLUTION ??

It is the time of the year again where everyone seems so intent to make a new resolution. Frankly speaking I do not understand the affiliation with new year's resolution at every turn of the new year. Every where I go everyone without fail will say either "So what is you new year's resolution?" or "My new year's resolution is...." New year resolution seems to be the topic of the day for the first few weeks of the new year. Everyone seems to be talking about it.

No matter how successful one has been in following the resolutions in previous year, one makes fresh resolutions for the coming year with full determination and will. The starting days of New Year are the most crucial in order to plan for the entire year. These are the days when most of the people sketch a graph for the whole year. To materialize the things thought of is somewhat difficult but still some people manage to do so.New Year resolutions provide a sort of direction to people to lead the coming year.

Some of the most popular New Year resolutions are – losing weight, earning a good amount of money, paying debts, starting a good exercise regime and resolving conflicts. Some people also think of giving money in charity in the coming year. But to me, I am still lost with our need to make a new year resolution every year. Why must we be so focused in making a new year resolution now and why must it be made every January. Why cant we make a resolution in the middle of the year. To me I would think that when you need to change something in your life u do not have to wait till the end of the year to make one. Do something about it now instead of waiting for the year to start a new.

I have to admit that I am one of those majority, I must say that was so into making new year's resolution. I always told myself that I want to take up learning how to play the flute when I was fifteen, but three years later, I have not even blown into the mouth piece of a single flute. I told myself that I wanted to take up fencing after watching the Olympics when I was eighteen, but a decade later, I have not even wield a single epee or sabre. And my all favourite, without fail my new year's resolution was to pamper myself and travel to at least one foreign country each year, but many years later I am still stuck in Singapore working my butts out.

For much of the world, January 1st marks the New Year. In many cultural be it you are an Asian, Hispanic,or western, it is only traditional to make a New Year resolution promising to accomplish something difficult in the year ahead. But to me I am resigned to the thinking that making a new year's resolution only serves to accomplish one thing and that is to remind oneself how we have flaws. If your resolution is to lose weight it just serves to remind you how fat you are or if your resolution is to exercise and keep fit, it just proves how unhealthy your life have been or if your resolution is to make more money it only proves that your job sucks.

Let’s face it — it’s pretty pointless waiting all year to decide on one or two things that you kinda, sorta want to stop doing, but that you know full well you’re not really committed to following through with anyway. If you want to change something in your life that you do not like or you want to do something that you have always yearned to do, why WAIT !!.

I came across an article that said why resolution doesn't work and there are basically four main points.

1. They’re all about what you think you should do.

All new year's resolution sounds good on the surface. Loose weight, stay healthy, more work life balance but typically a resolution is based on what you think you should be doing, rather than what you really want to be doing. Asked ourselves why do we even make a resolution. the answer is more than often we make resolutions after looking at other peoples expectations or by reading a magazine or looking at advert that tells you what you should achieve in life. Nonsense - forget about what you or other people think you ought to be doing and look at what you really want instead.

2. Resolutions are like goals.

Some resolutions are like goals in that they are about getting more of something out of nothing. The trouble is that goals - which have been imposed upon us rarely work. In work we have targets and goals to achieve, and more than often we do not achieve them, even if we do it is all about manipulation of data and figures and at the end of the financial year where the accounts are presented, it is all rosy and nice. But we all know that the facts are far from the figures.

The problem is that as soon as you set yourself a goal you are saying to yourself that you want more in your life than you have right now. The very nature of goals make you look forwards at what is next, never at what you have got right now. Goals have the tendency to make you feel less-than, because there’s something you don’t have now that you aspire to have in the future. Goals introduce a gap between where you are and where you did like to be, which instantly makes part of where you are right now a place you do not want to be - and this is how the very nature of having goals can hurt your self-confidence and self esteem.

Most people tend to think they need to set themselves goals and objectives to see things happen, but that is missing the point. Show me a goal-hungry person and I’ll show you someone who is always wanting something better to come along, someone who’s convinced - albeit perhaps not consciously - that reaching their goals will lead to their happiness. Even if that person reaches a goal it’s all too likely that it lacks meaning and personal relevance, and so the hunt for meaning, relevance and happiness goes on.

Once you reach a goal, so what is next? You must have another goal? Then another, then another. When do you get to stop and just enjoy life right where you are? The real gold and real value is in the experience, NOT in the end result.

3. There’s no motivation or commitment.

Many of our resolution do not even make it past January and many even are abandoned come March. The reason, simple there is No commitment. The problem is that you’re taking something that do not mean anything to you and trying to make it happen. Resolutions lack a foundation of meaning and personal relevance that makes sure they run out of steam.Sure, you might get an initial burst of motivation that gets you started, but that never lasts. Motivation is like the big rocket boosters on the space shuttle - it gives you an initial spurt of energy to get up and get moving, but it’s just not sustainable.

What you need is something more fundamental, more central and more important to you. What you need is something that comes from the inside, something that’s based on what’s important and what matters to you.
That’s the only way to get behind it, have confidence in it and keep the motivation and commitment going.

4. The timing’s all wrong.

Not only are you coming off the back of the holidays and getting back to the harsh realities of the world, but you see the whole of the year stretching ahead of you. It’s not exactly an inspiring picture, is it? And what kind of person waits all year to make a choice about something anyway? Why wait for one particular day to make a decision, when there are 364 other equally great decision-making days available to you?

So, the next time that anyone asked me what is my new year resolution, I will say, I do not have any. As in the wise words of Horace, Carpe Diem, Quam minimum credula postero, Seize the Day, trust as little as possible in tomorrow. If you have something that you think you ought to be doing, then for the love of god, DO IT NOW !! WHY PROCRASTINATE !!.