ToastMasters P2 speech

New Year Resolutions

Making resolutions is a cleansing ritual of self-assessment and repentance that demands personal honesty and, ultimately, reinforces humility.

Dear Toastmasters and Guests, as we are reaching end of this year; I thought why not talk about New Year resolutions. So, let us think why exactly do we make resolutions? What is history behind these so-called New Year resolutions? Who invented this idea of resolutions? Formal definition of resolution says: it is a decision to achieve something or behave in a certain manner. Certainly, we strive to do or achieve something which we know is possible but we haven't taken that first step towards it. And taking that first step I must say is the most difficult part. Once you have made-up your mind to go for something, nobody can stop you.

The very act of learning something new disrupts the way you’ve always seen things-and the way you’ve always been.  A fresh idea pushes you out of your comfort zone and threatens the very foundations you’ve built your view of the world on. Leadership-and life itself-is all about making tomorrow better than today, making next year better than yesteryear. And stepping into your next level of excellence with every passing hour.  To cling to the thoughts and ways of performing that you’ve always known is to resign yourself to being average. And mediocre. And once you have decided to achieve something, you need to follow discipline to make it work. You need to shake your routine life, come out of your comfort zone. So many things in our life have become a habit. Habit of setting alarm of 6'o clock and snoozing it until your maid rings bell where you don’t have any choice left but to get up open the door. Habit of making to-be-done tasks in morning and forgetting it completely as soon as a colleague or a good friend drops by your desk and asks you out for a tea break. Having said that, I would like to mention that it is possible to turn any practice into a habit. And for that, you need to practice it for 3 weeks with diligence and it is bound to become a habit.

Though there is no restriction on us to make resolutions only on new year eve; but since it is a beginning of new year and end of old year, we normally tend to rewind what we achieved/did not achieve in last 1 year and accordingly make plans for our betterment. And I feel making resolutions is making ourselves ready for learning and growing. And refusing to learn and grow is the beginning of the end. And as we celebrate beginning of a beginning, why not make ourselves ready to learn and grow.

New Year’s Day celebrations began in pre-Christian times, beginning with the Babylonians in March but changed to January by the Romans.  January gets its name from Janus, the two-faced god who looks backwards into the old year and forwards into the new.  Janus was the patron of bridges and his statue is set on the bridge Ponte Fabricio which crosses the Tiber River in Rome to Tiber Island, where it survives from its original construction. Even today it is believed that if you touch the Janus head as you cross the bridge, it will bring good fortune. The custom of setting “New Year’s resolutions” began during this period in Rome, as they made such resolutions with a moral flavor: mostly to be good to others.

But some people do wonder if New Year resolutions should begin from January 1 or January 2nd. Considering you have made a resolution of losing weight, you certainly wouldn't be dieting on New Year eve when all your friends are having a feast and you are holding a plate of salad in your hand and looking like a looser. So, what are the common resolutions people generally make? Among the top New Year’s resolutions are resolutions about weight loss, exercise, and stopping to smoke. Also popular are resolutions dealing with better money management / debt reduction

The following shows how many of these resolutions are maintained as time goes on:

- past the first week: 75%

- past 2 weeks: 71%

- after one month: 64%

- after 6 months: 46%

Only 8% of people are always successful in achieving their resolutions.

While a lot of people who make New Year’s resolutions do break them, research shows that making resolutions is useful. People who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don't explicitly make resolutions:

New Year’s Eve is just around the corner.  This year, in addition to looking forward to what you want, don't forget to spend your time reflecting on what you have.  It's always good to be grateful of whatever you already have.

Also, I encourage one and all to think what you would love to achieve next year and take that difficult first step and follow it for 3 weeks.  And once it becomes a habit, you are bound to successfully achieve your New Year resolution.