"“New Year’s eve is the only holiday that celebrates the passage of time. Perhaps that’s why, as the final seconds of the year tick away, we become introspective. Inevitably, that introspection turns to thoughts of self-improvement and the annual ritual of making resolutions, which offer the first of many important tools for remaking ourselves!”
- Gary Ryan Blair

My long time friend, Suresh has consistently proven his resolute nature by making New Year’s Eve resolutions. While the crystal ball descends at the New York’s Times Square, symbolizing the arrival of a new year, Suresh, holding his cigarette tightly as if he is about to lose a life long friend, starts feverishly puffing, supposedly his last one for this life. Those of us who have known him for a long time doubt if he ever lets his cigarette butt touch the ground. If not for the seemingly lit cigarette, we would have strongly believed that he swallows the remainder of the supposed last one. Among us, it has become a ritual to see Suresh quit smoking on every New Year’s eve, and by early next morning, when he has recovered from the previous night’s inebriation, he lights his first cigarette of the New Year. When reminded of his previous night’s resolution, his answer is always the same: “I didn’t realize what I was promising myself – no smoking forever in this life? Forget it.”

I believe Suresh is not alone in a world that fails to keep its new year’s resolutions. By the time you read this column, many of you might have made several new resolutions and already broken, if not all, most of them. Still, it’s the recurring theme of every New Year’s eve. Frustrated by bad habits like smoking, overeating or living a sedentary lifestyle, many of us vow to change by making New Year’s resolutions. “This year, I’m dieting, or exercising regularly, or quitting smoking for good,” we promise. In a few months, the diet books you bought mysteriously disappears behind the bookshelf, dust spends more time on the treadmill than you do, and the cigarettes are nestled comfortably in your pocket. 

Defeated, many of us give up further attempts to change. This failure to keep our resolutions is the result of us trying to quit or accomplish something that we inherently know can’t be done. We may have a strong desire to implement those resolutions but not enough will power. The end result is always the same. We suffer from failure to keep our promises to ourselves.
There hasn’t been any proven winning formula to follow through on resolutions made on an impulse or based on your mind-set at that last hour. 
It is important not to make wild resolutions that are too difficult to follow. Only if you could remember that New Year resolutions are promises made ‘voluntarily’ to yourself, then it should not be too hard to keep such promises.
Some of you set these wild goals / resolutions right before midnight, when your celebratory champagne drinking has already begun to dominate your logic. Such resolutions do not last beyond your hangover period the next morning, but no need to despair. Just accept the fact that you promised yourself some thing without any logical pre-planning. You should be smart enough to know that your resolution is like any business venture: started without any business plan, it is bound to collapse. 

The most important point to consider when making New Year’s resolutions is to decide if you are truly willing to make the effort to kick a bad habit or start a healthy one. Making a decision to change just because it’s New Year’s Day isn’t enough to keep you motivated for long. Lasting change means being prepared to make sacrifices. If you’re resistant to making the necessary sacrifices, ask yourself why. Many people resist change because they fear the unknown. Unhealthy habits may be deleterious and detract from your quality of life, but they’re familiar, and for many that’s reason enough to keep them.

I am no exception to making new resolutions year after year. I am proud to say I have a record of implementing at least 80% of them. Some years, I even carry forward those un-implemented resolutions to next year – just like our accountants carry forward accounts receivables in their books.
This year, I made a resolution that required relatively little effort. My resolution is not to make any New Year’s resolutions. This resolution only requires a minimum of contemplating, planning, acting and maintaining. This may just be the resolution you were looking for. So, always there is a way to relieve your frustration. 

On this New Year’s eve, if at all you have to make a resolution, consider making one to serve the under privileged of the community that you live in, help the country that made your dreams, to strengthen its’ peace and freedom.

While writing this column, my teenage daughters were hinting that their New Year’s resolution would be not to squabble with each other. In my mind, I know how long that will last. I am pretty sure their resolution, if made at all, will be abandoned even before the crystal ball at Times Square touches the ground.

I wish you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

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