OUR VIEW: Goals stick better than resolutions
Last year we discussed the increased attention given to service and giving when the holiday season is in full swing. It only seems appropriate to address another perennial phenomenon — we hear about it every year — the New Year’s resolution.
What is it about the start of a new year that inspires so many individuals to turn over the proverbial new leaf? New Year’s Day proffers us that benchmark opportunity to say, “OK, I quit smoking, drinking, overeating, oversleeping, getting high, playing video games when my girlfriend threatens to break up with me, laying in the tanning bed two hours a day, checking Facebook before I shower, cheating on my wife, or whatever else it might be that’s causing my moral compass to short out and lead me down a path of self-destruction.”
Perhaps, it is a legitimate point that the start of a new year is an excellent time to start something new or quit something old, but what about the high level of failure associated with such self-made promises? Is it just because so many people join in on this annual occasion that we hear so many stories of how they went seven days without watching reality TV and then it all hit the fan when that “Jersey Shore” marathon was on MTV?
Would we be better off not making such a big deal of what we’re trying to accomplish in our personal lives, rather than tweeting it to our entire social network for all to know when our ship finally sinks or runs aground?
Maybe there’s an intrinsic misconception that so many people fall victim to, thinking that the more people they make aware of their courageous endeavors, the bigger support group they’ll have. Let’s face it. If you want to be successful at something, the only person that can ultimately get you there is yourself. Maybe tell yourself this Feb. 2, April 5 or Sept. 26, “I’m going to make a resolution, and I’m going to stick to it.” After all, the fewer people you tell, the fewer will know if you do screw up.
As for our New Year’s resolution for 2012, we resolve to never make another New Year’s resolution again.