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Failed promises can be harmful

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  • Sonny Long •
  • Originally published January 5, 2009 at 2:03 a.m., updated January 5, 2009 at 2:03 a.m.

Making New Year's resolutions do more harm than good because repeated failures are discouraging and demoralizing, says Dr. Donald Ardrell, author of "High Level Wellness: An Alternative to Doctors, Drugs, and Disease."

"New Year's is celebrated for many things, but an occasion for effective resolutions should not be one of them. Most folks are ill-prepared for such an important activity as resolution-making on the first day of the New Year," Ardrell wrote on the Web site seekwellness.com. "Making a resolution at the start of the year is often an after-thought, given all the football games on television and the headaches from excesses on New Year's Eve. The shaping of resolutions, done with ample stock-taking and reflection upon one's good fortune and opportunities, is worth doing right."

Marty Domke, a professor of nursing at The Victoria College, said she quit making New Year's resolutions.

"I stopped doing them years ago because I realized they were useless. I never kept them," Domke said.

Ardrell would agree.

"Failed resolutions are not harmless. Resolutions fated to go nowhere tend to break down your self-confidence, respect and energy levels, which dampens your enthusiasm for personal excellence," the doctor said. "For the 86 percent who fail at resolutions at the start of each year, there is little disappointment in doing so. That is because most do not expect to succeed in the first place. Most do not take resolutions seriously. However, the pity is that such half-hearted resolutions are made at all."

According to newyearfestival.com, "Though many people make New Year's resolutions with enthusiasm and zeal, yet it has been noticed that most of these resolutions fail shortly after. Experts feel that the reason for the failure of these resolutions is that most people do not back their resolution with proper planning. It is recommended that one should plan how to effectively deal with the temptation of giving up the resolution. It is also recommended that one should take the help of friends and family to keep their motivation level high."

The Web site indicates that 46 percent of resolutions are broken during the first six months of the new year.

Zadkin Mangum, an information technology consultant in Victoria, feels the same way.

"The only resolution I make is to not make any resolutions. That's one I can keep," he said.

  • Most popular resolutions

    37% - Start to exercise

    13% - Eat better

    7% - Reduce the consumption of alcohol, caffeine and other drugs, or quitting smoking

    SOURCE: University of Washington, Miller and Marlatt study



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Comments

  • cleric cleric Report a ViolationReport a Violation Permalink  | 

    I have always thought New Year's resolutions were completely pointless. People always make them, gym memberships skyrocket, then a month or so into the year everything is back to normal.

    I share the philosophy of 'Peter' in Dodgeball who says, "I found that if you have a goal, that you might not reach it. But if you don't have one, then you are never disappointed. And I gotta tell ya... it feels phenomenal."

    January 5, 2009 at 4:29 p.m.