DRIVING THOUGHTS
Will you make time to list your New Year’s resolutions? Or will you think that will be a waste of time as you have not followed one up to the end of the year?
According to studies, only nine percent of New Year’s resolutions are done until the end of the year. There’s even a study that says most people drop resolutions by Jan. 19, which is now called the “Quitter’s Day.”
Even if you don’t keep resolutions, it’s a really good idea to make them anyway. Here’s at least two reasons why: first, it states an intention, which means you are being honest with yourself about your current condition. You realize that some improvement in your health or behavior are needed. Second, it gives hope that things can be better, and will motivate you to move.
The three most popular New Year’s resolutions are to exercise more, eat healthier, and lose weight. The reason why most people drop these resolutions is generally because they are too difficult to follow. For example, resolving to lose weight through exercise requires changes in one’s routine. Exercising more needs an adjustment in one’s schedule, and in changing one’s priorities.
Eating healthier food needs clearing one’s refrigerator and pantry, and then shopping for a new set of food stuff and condiments. And learning how to prepare a new menu. Making resolutions work needs managing expectations. Losing weight does not happen after two exercise sessions. But you can’t give up work to exercise.
Losing weight is not the only important resolution that can give you a good feeling. Here are some suggestions which come from a column I wrote last year:
1. Take a walk three times a week. That always gives a good feeling. That can be a short walk around your office, around your office’s parking lot, or to a convenience store a block away.
2. Call a friend instead of sending a text message once a week. There’s a study that says an eight-minute call with a friend can do much to reconnect relationships.
3. Do random acts of kindness twice a week. Order an extra sandwich at the drive-thru and give it to the guard, or to a kid begging for change. Order an extra drink or meal online and give that to the delivery rider.
4. Read a chapter of a book before you go to sleep. The exercise will calm you and studies say reading will “flex your muscles” to focus. Multi-tasking is not possible while reading.
5. Volunteer. There are many NGOs and foundations involved in feeding malnourished children, assisting the elderly citizens, distributing aid packages, teaching new livelihood skills, and recently, teaching students who are lagging in class reading comprehension. Giving time to do volunteer work is guaranteed to make you feel good.
6. Be grateful and put that in writing! Before you sleep, write at least one thing to be thankful for. Writing it down is important for it puts words into the feeling of gratefulness. And you can read it again the next day.
7. De-clutter and clean your cabinets. If you have not used something for a year, then it’s time to give it to someone who can use it. Giving is rewarded by good feelings – a smile of appreciation from the recipient, and a song in the heart of the giver, plus extra space at home.
8. Resist the urge to buy something as a reward for a tough week or challenging project which you completed. That’s when you buy what you do not need.
9. Think green. Start by evaluating the use of things you buy for the house and for yourself. Avoid buying single-use products with packaging that will add to our huge garbage.
10. Watch a sunset once a month. Making time for a sunset can give a few surprises on what’s really important in your life. It will not matter if you catch a magnificent display of colors, or if you watch the sunset through a cloudy sky. It’s the thought that a day is coming to an end, another day will begin in a few hours, and there is a God who makes this all happen.