No Resolutions, Only Commetments: the 4 Point Mantra — Amlesh Ranjan
“Watch out, 6–8 days from now, by mid Jan, you are likely to break your New Year Resolutions.”
The year 2023 has just begun and most of us have made some resolutions which we are very serious about and are determined to achieve them. Well, good luck!!
Resolutions, as per the Cambridge dictionary — ‘A firm decision to do or not to do something.’ As per Wikipedia- ‘A New Year's Resolution is a tradition, in which a person resolves to change an undesired trait or behavior, to accomplish a personal goal or otherwise improve their life.’ Great!!
As the year ends, we get into introspective mode, think about the things we wanted to do but couldn’t; aspects, we wanted to improve, but couldn’t, and contemplate a course correction.
Then, we get into party mode to bid the old year, goodbye, to welcome the new year and these are those high times when we take some ‘firm decisions’ called ‘Resolutions’ which is such a wonderful thing to do to start a brand new year. So far, so good!!
But unfortunately, most of us cannot live up-to those resolutions. The University of Scranton did a research poll in 2014 and found that only 8 percent of the people attain the goals set for the New Year.
Joseph J. Luciani, a noted clinical psychologist, found through his research in 2015 that approximately 80 percent of people fail in keeping their resolutions for New Year by February itself.
And as per a 2017 research by a social network site, ‘Strava’, by the middle of January, possibly on a Friday that we have a higher likelihood of starting breaking our resolutions. They concluded this after analyzing ~31.5 million online activities.
So, why do we fail? A study from 2016 published in the science journal The Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin reported that 55% of New Year’s resolutions were about Health related- Exercising, Healthy Eating etc. and 20% were Financial- Paying off debt…. and unfortunately, these are relatively difficult things to do in the weeks/months after the holidays and that too in winter.
Psychology Today, from which, I am quoting most of the research, had an article in 2018, ‘Why New Year's Resolutions Fail’ and, it lists the 4 main reasons for resolutions’ failure- Your Goals aren’t clear, You feel overwhelmed, You feel discouraged and You are not ready to change.
All said and done and despite the odds mentioned above, yes, we need to introspect and take some decisions to bring about the required change in ourselves and, or, in our environment to bring about an improvement.
And the beginning of a New Year definitely has that due emotion and momentum for creating a firm resolve to do or not do things. So, let’s not miss this opportunity.
Based on my own experiences and the readings, I have formulated my 4 point mantra, please allow me to share the same.
CHOOSE JUST ONE GOAL
Despite the best of the intentions, bringing about a change is never easy. Be it Exercise, Diet, Financial Prudence, Work-Life Balance, Reading, Writing…. any aspect from any sphere of our life, the change will be difficult.
We accentuate the difficulty when we choose 3-4 aspects in one go. Let’s decide just one goal that means a lot and focus on the same. Since we will be fully focused, there are higher chances of success and success in one aspect often rubs off on other aspects, which keep us motivated.
COMMEET TO THE SELF
Vincent Van Gogh wrote, “I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart”. Any change or improvement decision requires that first, we commit to ourselves by making a strong connection to our inner self.
The decision is ours to make and sticking to that decision is also only our responsibility. Self-commitment is so powerful that it propels you to meet the commitment.
Most of you would have noticed the spelling error in the title COMMEETMENT, but it is intentional. I mean, Meet your Commitment.
TELL THE WORLD
Psychology suggests that we are innately driven by our reputation and, hence, it is a powerful motivator. When we make our resolutions public, it helps us keep them as we want to protect the people’s perception about us.
We have also seen it, telling others makes them part of your resolve and they too help you meet your commitment to yourself. "We don't want to get a reputation as unreliable, so publicly announcing our plans can motivate…." says Prof Neil Levy at the University of Oxford.
BEGIN, NOW...
“Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace, and power in it. Begin it now,”–Johann Von Goethe.
We wait for all conditions to be near perfect to get going on anything, but it has been seen, if you start in the right earnest, things will start falling in place.
Remember, it’s our own commitment towards becoming our better selves or towards creating a better world, so get going now. St. Jerome rightly said, “Begin now to be what you will be hereafter”.
So, our 4 point mantra is:
Let’s Choose Just One goal;
Commit To The Self;
Tell The World &
Begin, Now...
for an inspiring start towards our quest to be our better selves or towards creating a better world for all of us.
Its the new year, the 2023, Let’s Commeet !
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