The New Year is on the verge, and I was wondering, have you ever noticed how many “New Year Resolutions” we make throughout the year? You will say “of course, this is the best time to make them”, after all, New Year, a birthday, or a special event has some kind of significance in our lives. We truly believe and tell ourselves “that’s it! I really will make all the changes I’ve been blabbering about in the past year or more!”. But the morning after, and for the lucky ones amongst us, a week and sometimes even a month after, we find ourselves forgetting all about those resolutions and instead going back to our everyday life.
But why is it that we do not manage to keep them? I mean, we really want to! And we know that it will be good for us, it will create good changes in our lives, will help us grow and develop. So why can’t we stick to what we promised our selves? I believe that I have the answer.
I think that the main reason is that habits are hard to break. Another reason is that we all have ego issues. Napoleon Hill once said that “in order to change a habit one must own the habit to change”, and I will add to that by saying that one should eliminate his ego in order to grow bigger then his ego.
We all have a defense system that sometimes is referred to as “ego”. This defense system drives us either to be passive about such things as New Year resolutions, or be proactive about them, that is moving forward and making the changes. Sometimes it will create a reaction beyond our control, and in some cases, if people are really smart, it will lead them to be interactive, i.e. by using friends and advisers in order to be emotionally aligned with their needs (more info here), wishes and dreams.
In a nut shell, my suggestion to you is that in order to get to the point where you manage to keep your New Year resolutions, first learn how to put your ego aside and work on changing your habits. The easiest way, if you can afford it, is to hire a mentor that will help you lead yourself into the future. On my next post on the subject, I will write on how to continue from here, with the help of A letter from the future.
May we all have a happy New Year, one with many accomplished “New Year Resolutions”. 
Yours,
Opher
5 responses so far ↓
David E. // Jan 3, 2007 at 18:00
Every Januar I take a break to write my own resolutions for the upcoming year (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year’s_resolution).
A few days ago I read about an interesting experiment dealing with this issue -> http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1979625,00.html
read the article (specialy the 5 tips) and help the experiment at www.newyearscience.co.uk !
I wish you the Best year ever !
David E.
Chris Miller // Jan 3, 2007 at 18:03
More than 600,00 resolutions at - www.10MillionResolutions.com
Post your own resolution !
opher // Jan 6, 2007 at 15:58
Hi Chris,
Yes, I saw this site. Quite an amazing number, isn’t it?
I wonder what would happen if someone would ask all these people “what happened to their New Year resolutions and then ask them, given that they succeeded, how did they do it? And if they feel that they know why?
Opher
opher // Jan 6, 2007 at 15:58
Hi David,
Thanks for the link
it sounds like a very interesting research! I wonder what the outcome would be. From my experience each person is driven by his pathetic insecurities, which might cause one person to do absolutely nothing in order to improve his or her life, while for another it will be a motivator/catalyzes to excel and achieve that, and much more.
In the future I will write more about Pathetic Insecurities, how one can identify and learn to live with them.
In the mean while, have a wonderful year and may all your resolutions materialize.
Opher
Judi // Jan 13, 2007 at 10:04
I think that the really interesting issue regarding resolutions is the way you manage them…:-)
It’s quite easy to write a few, but how do you ensure that they will be achieved ??
Here is one of the best posts I’ve read about it:
http://webworkerdaily.com/2007/01/07/20-different-ways-to-manage-your-to-dos/
Best regards,
Judi.
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