AS 2018 comes to a close and a new year begins, the popular Guyanese tradition of making new year resolutions is once again in mind. That tradition which is practised by most countries in the western hemisphere may be considered good, since, if one is successful at keeping the resolutions, one is likely to improve some aspect of one’s life.

However, while the person making the resolutions is usually sincere and determined to succeed, the majority of persons fail. This fact is widely known and for this reason many persons just do not make resolutions at all. That is unfortunate.

Fortuitously, scientists have studied the matter and have come to conclusions about why persons fail to keep their resolutions; and those conclusions have resulted in concrete recommendations for helping persons to improve the quality of their lives by succeeding at keeping their new year resolutions.

A new year resolution is the act of resolving to improve an undesirable trait or behaviour, or to accomplish a personal goal or otherwise be a better person for the new year. Some popular ones are: to get in shape, start eating healthier food, stop procrastinating, stop smoking or using alcohol, learn a new language, strive to be more environmentally responsible, get a better job, spend quality time with family members, be more spiritual, spend less time on social media, become more polite, watch less TV, read more books; the list of self-improvement resolutions is endless.

The tradition of making new year resolutions started centuries ago when the Babylonians made promises to their god to repay debts, and the Romans started each new year with promises to their god Janus. Over the centuries, the practice evolved and expanded into other societies, including modern cultures. By the 1930s, about a quarter of Americans made new year resolutions; and according to the American Medical Association (AMA), approximately 40 to 50 per cent of Americans regularly participated in the new year resolution tradition by the mid-1990s. While local is not available, the American statistics may be a reliable indicator of general western tendencies, including local trends.

The beginning of a new year may be the best time to make a self-improvement resolution; another study by the AMA found that 46 per cent of participants who made common new year resolutions (e.g. weight loss, exercise programmes, quitting smoking, reducing drinking) were likely to succeed; a number over 10 times larger than among those deciding to make similar life changes at other times of the year. This is one reason why new year’s resolutions are considered by scientists to be important; and the primary reason why experts have taken an intense interest in the matter.

British psychologist Richard Wiseman has done numerous surveys and studies on the subject of willpower, and is considered the expert on the subject. In 2007, he tracked the success of 3,000 people’s new year resolutions, only to find that a mere 12 percent of them managed to achieve what they had set out to do. The differences between the findings of the AMA and the British expert may be attributable to societal and cultural factors.
In any case, Dr. Wiseman looked into what the successful people were doing differently, and, based on their experiences, devised a list of tips for others who want to stop failing.

Here is the complete list of Wiseman’s advice:
1) If possible, make only one resolution — changing a lot of things at once is more difficult.
2) Think about your resolutions in advance, and spend some time to reflect on them.
3) Don’t re-visit past failures, but focus on new resolutions instead.
4) Focus on what you really want — don’t just go with what’s trendy.
5) Break your goal into manageable, concrete steps with specific deadlines.
6) Go public — tell your friends, family, social networks about your goals, which will increase your fear of failure and also garner support.
7) Create a checklist focusing on how much better your life will be once you’ve achieved your goals.
8) Whenever you make progress on the steps towards your goal, give yourself a small reward.
9) Document your journey — charts, spreadsheets, journals and other means of tracking your progress will keep it concrete.
10) Don’t beat yourself up and quit if you sometimes revert to old habits — treat it as a temporary setback.
New year resolutions, if successfully implemented, have the potential to improve one’s life: one may stop smoking, start exercising, read more, or, advance in other ways. It is a good tradition; one worth keeping. But it only works if one follows through and actually makes the resolution a reality.