Resolved...

I went for an early(ish) run this morning in an effort to beat the crowds. The park was dead; just one girl walking her dog and playing with her mobile. The only other people I saw were two lads doing the walk of shame through Mermaid Quay and a cleaner in Pizza Express. I was the only runner; the New Year Resolutionaries hadn't yet surfaced.

New Year's resolutions generally cover the following subjects:

Improve well-being
Improve finances
Improve career
Improve education
Improve self
Take a trip
Help others

A recent study showed that while 52% of participants were confident of success with their goals, only 12% actually achieved them. Another recent study showed that 78% of those who set New Year resolutions fail. Is our will power really that weak?

I don't make New Year's resolutions anymore. I used to, many, many years ago but usually, before January was out they were long forgotten. So I stopped making them. Changes to behaviour are usually difficult and take a long time. They rarely happen overnight - even if that night is the one between December 31st and January 1st.

If you want to succeed at your resolution, you have to want to achieve it. That may seem obvious but I think that most people who make New Year's resolutions do not want to achieve their goal. They don't want to change their lives; they think they ought to change their lives. There's a difference and that difference is borne out in failure.

For most of my adult life I was a smoker. And for most of my adult life I believed I ought to quit smoking. I failed at this time after time because I enjoyed smoking. Success came when I started running. I enjoyed running more than I enjoyed smoking. Finally, I wanted to give up smoking rather than merely thinking I ought to. That was six smoke free years ago.

Alain de Botton, writer and TV philosopher, argues:

We don’t tend to make resolutions about things we completely believe in. Few of us would ever resolve to be appalled by war or disease. It just comes naturally. But we do resolve all the time to be kinder or more hardworking, because a sizeable part of us loves being cruel and sitting around. A resolution always hovers over a grave inner conflict and constitutes a vow by one part of ourselves against another. Which is why – according to some - we should never be so foolish as to make a resolution.

Whether you want to stop drinking or biting your nails, start exercising and being a better person or learn Suomi and become a virtuoso at the banjolele; there are opportune moments when these changes are more likely to succeed.

I have come to the conclusion that there are certain instances in your life when a change is right; disparate elements come together; things fall into place; your body tells you that it's right. Those instances rarely coincide with New Year's Day.

Today's run at 08:34
Distance	4.01 km	Time	23:29
Pace	5:51 min/km	Cadence	81 spm
Comments: Overcast. Backache.