Another year has come and gone. Once again, we look back at a year of triumphs and trials. We contemplate on what could have been, and what might have become. With the New Year fast approaching, we now turn our sights forward into a new 365 days of possibilities.

With that, the  first thing most of us do is set forth a new regiment for ourselves. We set our “New Year’s Resolution!” Nothing wrong with that, right…? WRONG! Let me tell you that time and again, I have seen friends, family and strangers set forth new year resolutions only to abandon them at the first glimpse of Avocado Cakes or Chocolate Covered Bacon, instant diet breakers!

Why do 99% of New Year Resolutions not work? Well, pretty simple, because it’s a promise with a future decree.

It’s always easy to say “tomorrow I will…” Tomorrow this, or tomorrow that. It’s the procrastinators’ cry. What happens when tomorrow actually comes? Well, these non-committed fiends simply push it off to another tomorrow. Sometimes, after realizing the immediacy of tomorrow, they then give themselves more time and say “next week.”

Tomorrow, next week, next month or next year. It will never work. If you want something changed, you have to change NOW. Not after some ill-conceived non-tangible date that just sounds nice like January 1.

There was a two-part study done where the participants had to come in and answer some questions, not knowing what the study was actually about. After day one of questions, the participants were asked what type of snack they wanted when they came back  for part two of the study. Their choices were Chocolate or Bananas. Not surprisingly, over 80% of the participants opted for the healthier option, the banana, and went on their merry way.

Come day two of the study, these same participants would be asked again if they still wanted the banana they originally asked for or if they wanted to change it to chocolates, and the results… a surprising 70% of the people that said they wanted Bananas changed their snack to chocolates!

What does this tell us? Well, that it’s always easy to look forward to a future date and think the best for ourselves. These participants, like us, look forward and say that we will quit smoking or start eating healthier or be nicer. Though in reality, once we’re faced with the imminent choice to smoke or not to smoke, right now, we often fall prey to our own lack of self-discipline.

So if you want something changed, don’t expect a New Year’s Resolution to be the resolve you were hoping for. A fancy kiss at the strike of the clock is probably all that the new year can really bring. Other than that, the change in you should start NOW.

As for me, what’s my non-new-year-but-do-it-now-resolution? Well, to write more… but I’ll start that tomorrow…

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