A new year’s resolution worth making and worth keeping

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/12/2024 (261 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As 2024 draws to a close, many of us will engage in the annual ritual of making one or more new year’s resolutions. Some of us will promise ourselves that we will adopt a healthier lifestyle by losing weight, eating healthier foods, exercising more often and/or quitting smoking. Others will vow to save more money, learn new skills or get a new job, while still others may commit to travel more or learn a new language.

The range of promises we can make to ourselves as we begin a new year are infinite, but the challenge always lies in keeping them. A report published last year by the Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University revealed that 23 per cent of Americans abandon their new year’s resolution by the end of the first week of January, while 43 per cent quit by the end of the month. Even worse, the study found that a meagre nine per cent of those who make resolutions actually complete them.

Those numbers are generally consistent with a 2022 Time Magazine report, which said that up to 80 per cent of people fail to keep their new year’s resolutions by February, and just eight per cent of those who make resolutions follow through on them for the entire year.

Why are so many new year’s resolutions abandoned so quickly? If we are so bad at honouring our resolutions, why do we keep making them? A Baylor University College of Medicine report suggests three things we can do in order to improve our odds of success: set realistic expectations, track the success of your resolution and don’t tackle the task on your own. Enlist others to join you on your journey.

That is helpful advice, but there is another option: Strive to emulate positive examples set by those you admire. Learn from them and try to follow in their footsteps.

For example, the world lost former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on Sunday at the age of 100. Current President Joe Biden described Carter as a “model of what it means to live a life of meaning and purpose.” He added that “To all of the young people in this nation and for anyone in search of what it means to live a life of purpose and meaning — the good life — study Jimmy Carter, a man of principle, faith and humility.”

That is good guidance for all of us, at a time when the world seems increasingly angry, unstable and indifferent to the suffering of others.

Carter once said that “My faith demands — this is not optional — my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can, with whatever I have to try to make a difference.”

What a tremendous difference he made. As president, he helped negotiate the Camp David Accords, which have resulted in decades of peace between Israel and Egypt. After leaving office, he founded the Carter Center, which was instrumental in restoring peace in several nations, and in advocating for democracy, public health and human rights around the world.

Beyond that, Habitat for Humanity has hailed Carter and his wife, Rosalynn Carter, as “champions and groundbreaking voices for affordable, decent housing for all.” Beginning in 1984, the Carters worked with thousands of volunteers in 14 countries — including here in Manitoba — to build, renovate and repair approximately 4,500 homes in total, including 180 in Canada. A note on the Habitat for Humanity website says that the Carters “understood that, to ensure the greatest success, families need a stable, affordable foundation to grow.”

Few of us can ever dream of accomplishing what Jimmy Carter accomplished internationally, during or following his tenure as president. We can, however, emulate his example in our respective communities.

We can support charitable causes here in Westman through donations of our money and time. We can advocate for the rights and interests of the poor and the marginalized. We can help to make more affordable housing units available to those who need them.

Most of all, we can choose to follow the example set by Carter’s inspiring example, by living a life of “meaning and purpose”— a life of kindness, decency and service to our families, neighbours and community.

That’s a new year’s resolution worth making; a resolution worth keeping.