[Short Essay] Should A New Year Mean New Resolution?

2013 is just about to end in few hours, and 2014 is about to begin…

I
just suddenly thought that new resolution that commonly expressed in
last days of a year is just like ‘lip service’. It is just recurring. I
mean, does someone really make new resolutions which are ‘new’ that he
didn’t make those in the previous year? New resolution like ‘I wanna be
more diligent in 2014’ is a normative way of saying, or a way of stating something convincingly yet find one self secure of feeling ‘not doing something at all’ (since ‘diligent’ can be interpreted widely).

People need ‘moment in life‘ to do something or not to do something. The students will study when they will have had the exam in a few days (some students I mean, like me), a smoker will say “I will stop smoke if i get new better job”, or someone will always says to God “I will do this if I get this,”. A turn of the year seems to be a perfect moment to change. To reflect what has already been done or achieved yet to evaluate what has been missed. Then a new resolution is made. There is nothing wrong with it.

Living your life like the flow of water is like letting your life go with no direction. You don’t know where you are going exactly. Resolution can focus yourself on what things that are important to your life and eliminate the small things you shouldn’t waste your time on it. If resolutions are the goals you wanna achieve in a year, let me cite a theory in strategic management. A goal or objective should be SMART.

S stands for Spesific
M stands for Measurable
A stands for Attainable
R stands for Relevant
T stands for Time bound

A spesific objective will lead to the exact result you want. “I wanna be slimmer,” is not a spesific objective unless it is stated clearly how slim you wanna be. A measurable one will keep you the number you want so you know whether you have already achieved your objective or not. You know your objective attainable when you feel you are desirable, the objective may not easy but you know you have chance to make it happen (‘going to the moon’ is not attainable i think for ‘common people’). A relevant objective should connect between who make resolution and what he makes (‘to make better education system’ is not relevant to those who are not dealing with the education system). Last but not least, time-bound will keep resolution in spesific time how long someone expect it to happen that it will not be another new resolution in subsequent year.

So, what is your resolution for 2014? One of mine is to write more and more. It is sad to realize that in 2013 I only have a half number of my writing in 2012. Ah,  I have ever written about this yet it just didn’t change me. I was just not that determinant. 🙁

I bet that new resolution will not work for those who are not determinant. Or a procrastinator. Someone who always makes excuse and excuse not to do something to obtain what he wants. Your resolutions are the things you’ll buy with the ‘price’ you are willing to ‘pay’. Right?

A list of (new) resolutions (and only list) will not help until you get yourself up and struggle for what you really want. Doesn’t it?