A New Year's resolution is a commitment made by an individual to reform a habit, or to change their lifestyle. These promises are made on New Year's Day, the first day of a brand new year and are supposed to be either fulfilled or abandoned by the end of that year. However, the problem with the start of a new year is that most good resolutions are often derailed within a few weeks.

The most popular resolutions are usually the goals to improve health, improve finances, improve career, and improve education and a few other more. The list of resolutions in New Year never ends. Different people come up with thousands of innovative resolutions every year. Some remain abandoned, while some get fulfilled.

This year, instead of listing the do’s and don’ts of New Year resolutions I am going to concentrate on the don’ts. Here is my list of the things that you must not include in your New Year resolutions.
 

1. Quit smoking

If you plan to quit smoking again this year my advice is don’t because it will not work. It will do more damages to you because some methods in quitting involve using antidepressant drugs such as bupropion, nicotin patch and nicotin receptor like agonist varenicline. If finance is your main concern behind quitting than these stuff are as expensive as cigarettes and maybe more. If health is your main concern then some of this stuff are as deadly as cigarettes. So if to quit smoking is one of your New Year Resolutions then you might want to think again. Some chain smokers that I know live up to their eighties and the great Indonesian writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer is a perfect example.
 

2. To be rich

This is another popular New Year resolution that you should avoid if you long for a happy and healthy life. Rich billionaires like Howard Hughes, Aristotle Onassis, Jean Paul Getty, William Randolph Hearst and many more are miserable human beings. Live like my late grandfather, poor, healthy and happy; ok maybe a little suffering in life but the cool ones like being rebellious and penniless while avoiding assassination attempts etc. More famous examples were Mahatma Gandhi, Che Guevara and Saladin. Live like Gandhi, became an icon and then a martyr. You will be remembered for eternity or at least until 2012.

3. Improve career

Do not, I repeat, do not attempt to improve your career. Stick to the job that you’re having right now. Jobs are hard to come by these days. Whatever that you are doing right now is cool by today’s standard. No need for ambitions in this time of trouble.

 

Guidelines to Making Resolutions

If in any way, you still have your sacred list of New Year Resolutions for this year the experts have a few tips on how to reach your goals effectively. The first one is to avoid perfectionist thinking like, for example, while we certainly always want to better ourselves, it is healthier to think in positive terms than it is to focus on how much we fall short of our aspirations. In other words, students should view the grade of an A- as better than a B, rather than not as good as an A+.

Second is to not make absolute resolutions by keeping them realistic. For example that instead of saying you won't yell at your kids anymore, resolve to yell at them less often.  Third is to not keep the resolutions to yourself. Tell someone you trust about your resolutions. It helps to share your goals with friends, who can gently nudge you in the right direction when you veer off course. Fourth is to give your resolutions some meaning. People sometimes make goals that aren't necessarily meaningful to them. Your goal should be something you really desire to change or achieve, not something that society say is good for you to do or your family members would like to see you do. If you don't have strong, internal motivation within yourself, you won't be successful.

And finally, take baby steps which are to set realistic goals that are attainable and then take small steps that are likely to be met with success toward those goals. Don't try to lose 10 pounds in a week or quit smoking cold turkey with no preparation. Instead, try joining a weight loss program and try to lose a pound a week, or join a smoking cessation group or take my advice to don’t quit smoking at all.

New Year Resolutions are individual goals that are meant for individual contributions that would make the world a better place to live. In the end it is about our own contribution to our society. It should be an ongoing or continuous process rather than a trivial annual event. I’m sure that most human beings would want a more peaceful planet with less pollution, a world where its inhabitant would practice no apathy at all. Mahatma Gandhi once said “Be the change that you want in this world”. The key to a better world is definitely in each and everyone of our individual hands.

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