𝐃𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐃𝐈𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐔𝐋𝐓𝐒: 𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒

It’s about that time of year where the vibe is high, and energies are high. Everyone is busy with the Christmas/jolly season for starters. There’s those trying to catch up to time, those simply rounding off, those trying to mend things and make amends and those completely lost to it all. Most importantly there’s those mapping out a course for the new year (setting resolutions)

Very soon this space will be flooded with “wonderful” posts to this effect, some worth the read, others impossible to understand, everyone all making a point.

If we decided to do an analysis of respected resolutions for 2022 it won’t be a surprise many didn’t make through January nor past February. I don’t know how many of the multitude even remember their resolutions from last year. Probably we would laugh about it as usual and this year as tradition demands we will excitingly put up another set of resolutions we do not plan to keep.

One might be tempted to ask if at all we get the memo on resolutions or why we even set them at all, or why we set them only at the end of year only to abandon them without second thought.

Someone might argue that setting resolutions is a baby step to eventual growth but what happens when baby steps remain baby steps and growth is stunted? Do we still continue to be delusional and blindly uphold and hype these traditions?

Away from that, let’s explore the concept of resolutions a little bit. Perhaps like most trends and traditions we jump on them before trying to understand and for the most part never really bother.

A resolution in this context is defined as “a FIRM decision to do or not do something” or simply the quality of being determined. Summarily if you aren’t firm and determined, you have no business with setting a resolution.

From its definition it somehow makes sense that they come at the end of year, after all resolutions are equally measures to solve a problem or fix an anomaly so they might be a great way to set the tone for a new year. But when we make resolutions do we consider all this? Are our resolutions a reflection of the things we intend to fix, or we just want to go about building without checking for any possible issues?

Before we honor a long-standing tradition let us pause and check if we are being redundant, let us check for the effectiveness and proof of an actual difference brought about by our resolutions. Let us do a balance sheet of our intentions and resolutions vs our actions and results before proceeding.

Naturally, the effectiveness of a method is reflected in the results obtained. If we set resolutions at the end of one year and a year later, we are for the most part the same people that should tell us the strategy needs to be revised.

Another visibly faulty aspect of most resolutions is their vastness and diversity. You alone cannot set 10 resolutions in different aspects and areas of your life. That alone is overwhelming at first sight, accomplishing them becomes difficult since focus is divided and confusion becomes the order of the day, execution time is equally divided between many things. You can do many things, but it is best done one at a time. Impact as far as humans are concerned is best obtained through consistency and repetition.

Resolutions are great, only if they can live up to their actual and full potential otherwise, we are just deceiving ourselves.

-Wandji Winifred