The wahala with “New year, new me”
The tradition of making New Year resolutions began in Babylon. I don’t know when because I’m not omniscient. But the closest record I could find traced it back to 4000 years ago. Folks in Babylon would make promises to the gods in hopes that they’d earn good favour in the coming year.
Most times, their resolutions are always about debt settlement. They either want the gods to make their creditors miraculously cancel their debts or they want a rain of money from somewhere so they can settle it. Either way, the majority of them usually end up in more debt the following year.
There are similar patterns today. Plenty of resolutions; front, back, right, left and centre without a corresponding revolution. Especially in a clime like Africa where most people have attached personal change to a change in calendar times.
I understand the significance of times and seasons but I’m still of the notion that every day is the same. The day you become resolute about turning a new leaf in an area of your life is your new year.
However, a resolution is a journey and not everyone can walk it. It is too ambiguous to be a one-off event or a 31st-1st switch. Because many think it is a one-off event, that’s why they consistently fail at it.
The guy who has never read a pamphlet in his life says, “I will read one book per month this year.”
“I will quit smoking this year”, the chain smoker joined.
“I will stay in the place of prayer for 2hrs each day this year,“ one religious zealot added.
I bet you that that the resolutions above may only last a week or two. And it’s not because the ‘confessors’ have weak willpower. It’s because their resolutions have no foothold in any kind of (new) habit that’ll facilitate their new resolution.
The mitochondrion (powerhouse) of resolutions are habits. if you cannot describe steps — daily, weekly or monthly — that you will take to walk the path of your resolution, it’s only a matter of time before it’ll meet its waterloo.
A resolution without a foundation in a habit will fail. What you should focus on is developing a habit (that would fuel your resolution) not the resolution in itself. Fortunately, If you concentrate on the former, you’ll ultimately arrive at the latter.
The majority of those — that know what they’re saying — who have declared resolutions/goal setting irrelevant are those who have formed a habit that makes them productive. They don’t know what the fuss about setting goals is for. They just picture where they want to be at the end of the year and stick to the baby steps from January.
So, instead of trying to DO, strive to BECOME. For example, It’s shouldn’t be about reading many books this year, it should be about developing a habit of reading. Not just about the gym but about healthy living. In the long run, you’ll win both ways; achieve your aim of reading more and develop the habit. Those who teach habits call it clues, I call it catalyst (we will talk about these someday).
There cannot be a successful new year resolution without a habit to back it up. In fact, a resolution is keeping to a new habit that’ll replace the old one. If you’re too obsessed with the bogus resolution, you’ll come back with the same story next year. Focus on habits that’ll help you become the endpoint of the resolution.
