As another year unfolds, many people will embark on their annual tradition of setting New Year’s resolutions but may find it difficult to stick to their resolutions.
In a chat with NewsNGR, Enugu-based broadcast journalist, Uche Gabriel, explained some misconceptions about setting and maintaining New Year resolutions goals.
Gabriel explained that the concept of resolutions can be understood in two ways.
“In a farm yard or garden, nobody plants a weed – it grows on its own,” he said.
“The bad things we don’t want in life, we don’t need to invite them. They come naturally. To have a farm void of weeds, you must be intentional about it. All the things we want in our lives, like money, a healthy life, better pay, and more opportunities, will not jump into our laps – you have to work for it.”
He noted that “resolution” derives from “resolve” which indicates a firm belief or commitment.
According to him, dismissing New Year resolutions entirely shows a misunderstanding of their purpose.
“You don’t say do you believe in New Year’s resolutions – everybody should believe in it,” he stated.
Secondly, Gabriel compared personal resolutions to corporate SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats).
He said just as companies evaluate their performance to improve, individuals should conduct self-assessments to identify areas for growth and potential pitfalls.
Citing Plato’s assertion that “an unexamined life is not worth living,” Gabriel advocated regular self-reflection for sensible, intelligent, and responsible individuals.
“New Year resolutions are simply a way of taking an inventory of your life for the passing year, and say okay I have done well with my finances, but I didn’t do so well with my relationships, so I am going to do better here. This is because if you don’t take that inventory, you won’t even know what to work on,” he said.
“For instance, I have made up my mind that one of my New Year resolutions is that I am not going to spend much next year, I will be kind but not too kind, because I am going to save my money to do a whole lot of things. That’s what New Year resolutions are, and anyone who has been making progress and does not believe in New Year resolutions only makes progress but has no direction. You must have direction, a Key point that you are focusing on.”
The broadcast journalist mentioned other areas including managing an overweight body, eating healthy, and improving relationships for people who don’t associate well with people.
“What most people do is that they quarrel with New Year resolution when it is not the issue, the issue is that they lack the will, the focus, and the coordination. A resolution cannot get itself done, someone has to focus on it and push it, and then score yourself on a weekly basis, how well, bad, and areas to improve on.
“Some people who go to church have this pinnacle mindset that yes, I have set the goals, because I went before God to talk to God about it, so those things will automatically get done, no, you have to work towards achieving them. A resolution is not a whish but a determination to see those things happen.
“There are those who want to achieve more, and get more money, but they are waiting for a miracle to happen. It does not work that way. You set a goal and work towards it. There is a process and there is an outcome. The process involves a lot of steps you must take to see the outcome. For anything you want to see, there is a body of knowledge to ignite it,” he said.
Gabriel added, “When you talk about ignorance, it is of two kinds.
“If you have wrong knowledge about money, you will never attract money. So your responsibility is to know what you need to know and what you need not to know. The illiterate of the 21st century is not somebody who cannot read and write, but somebody who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.
“For everything you want to achieve, even if you have known what you need to know and have unlearned what you need to unlearn, all you need to do is to act on what you know, because knowledge will not act automatically, once you get knowledge, it should reflect in the way you act.”
Gabriel further advised that New Year resolutions should not just be a yearly thing but a daily, weekly or monthly determination.
“Every month, you should be able to throw things away, you should also be able to say this one will or will not work. It is a constant resolution and constant working on those things that bring progress.
He further encouraged people not to relent on the fact that they have tried some things that didn’t work, but rather push harder with good effort and determination towards achieving success.
“Find out why the resolution did not work. When you make a decision, you should back it up with action for success to be achieved. Always write down your resolutions, it gives a guide for actions.
“Also, detach yourself from people that give you negative energy, for this might cause you mental paralysis. Resolutions are modifications in your character before they yield results in your life. That’s to say it traces a responsibility of change in you.”