by David Chaproniere

Created on: December 30, 2008

Most of us have made them: My New Year's resolution will be to ... lose weight; stop smoking; go on a detox diet; do more for charity; save up for a once-in-a-lifetime trip. So why do such good intentions so often fall by the wayside?

New Year's resolutions usually involve some form of sacrifice, something to be given up such as chocolate, alcohol, cigarettes, time, or money. Ordinarily these are positive moves in one's life, but the problem of maintaining such a sacrifice as a resolution for the whole of a year is perhaps rather ambitious.

However, it is more likely the timing of the resolution that is the downfall for many. January is hardly a good time to be giving up food, alcohol and cigarettes; after all, it is not conducive to give up something one usually enjoys during what for most of us is the most depressing month of the year after feasting over and celebrating the holiday season. And for those of us in the chilly northern hemisphere, January is not really the time to be turning to salads and fruit when what we really crave are warming stews and comforting puddings washed down with a hefty red wine, or a steaming mug of hot chocolate after a walk in the ice and snow.

Many might say that this merely demonstrates weak will power. I'd maintain it is simply bad timing. There is little point, say, giving up chocolate on January 1 if you have boxes of the stuff left over from Christmas, given as presents, sitting on a shelf and taunting you to eat them during your weakest moments. Giving up cigarettes during the depressing winter months is unlikely to help you to tough it out. And is it really a good time to be putting money aside for an extravagant trip when there are still Christmas credit card bills to pay?

No, better to give up something when the time is right. Diets are for spring and summer, when fruit and vegetables are plentiful. Giving up smoking in spring can focus instead on saving the money you spent on cigarettes for a summer vacation. The once-in-a-lifetime trip is something that needs to be planned and budgeted for over many months or even years, not in the blink of an ill-thought resolution.

So maybe the idea of sacrificing something at this time of year is the reason so many resolutions fail. Maybe what we should focus on instead is to devote to matters less sacrificial and more advantageous, such as donating time to good causes.

Perhaps then we will be more likely to make our resolutions work.

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