Making fail-proof resolutions

Enough of noble New Year’s resolutions I never keep. This year, I’ve a list of easy peasy ones I can fulfil.

IHAD grand plans to kick off 2013. I woke up on Jan 1 with an ambitious list of things to do. First off would be a hot yoga session, followed by an hour at the gym.

I’d then hop over to the supermarket to get vegetables for a salad.

Once home, I’d eat said salad, then finish reading Ismail Kadare’s Chronicle In Stone, which had been lying by my bedside the whole of 2012, bookmarked at page 45. (Kadare, by the way, is an Albanian writer whose favourite topic is historical Balkan wars; his name always crops up during Nobel Literature Prize season.)

I’d round off the day with a 4km run and sleep early.

I didn’t fulfil any of that, of course.

I spent my first waking hour of the new year in bed, staring at the ceiling and debating with myself whether to go for yoga or not.

The final answer was no. Instead, I frittered away the day in bed, Googling celebrity news (I know everything that’s happening in Demi Moore’s life) and playing Scramble on my iPad, eating leftover Christmas cake, throwing tennis balls for my dogs to fetch, and taking intermittent naps.

I didn’t change out of my pyjamas till mid-afternoon.

It was probably the best New Year’s Day I ever had. This year, I resolve to... chill. You know, hang loose, relax, be lazy, go with the flow, don’t sweat the small stuff, speak less, nod more, stop caring what others are thinking, exercise only when I’m in the mood – and eat chocolate whenever I want to.

I’m tired of being a worrier, of being earnest and pessimistic, of fearing to offend, of seeing the dark side of everything, of being careful about my diet and preoccupied with the need to exercise, and generally feeling the sky’s going to come crashing down on all of us if we’re not careful.

I foresee many benefits to chilling.

I’ll be more even-tempered, able to concentrate on tasks at hand better, sleep more soundly and look less stricken.

This is one resolution I’m keen to keep – and which I’m confident I will – because life will be somuch

I’m tired of being a worrier, of being earnest and pessimistic, of fearing to offend, of seeing the dark side of everything, and being careful aboutmy diet.

more pleasant, and who doesn’t want pleasant?

I used to be a devout maker of New Year’s resolutions and like everyone else’s list, mine was ambitious and noble.

Topping it was improving my health – losing 5kg, running a marathon, banishing junk food and eating more greens.

Next came improving my brain – reading serious novels, learning a new language, memorising economic terms I trip over and taking piano lessons.

Then came the do-good stuff – giving more to charity, one kind deed a day and generally becoming a better human being.

I’ve never fulfilled any of that, at least not beyond the first week of the new year.

I’m not the only one. A 2007 British study of 3,000 people found that 88% of those who set off with New Year’s resolutions fail.

Faced with unfulfilled good intentions, I stopped making resolutions more than a decade ago.

But I didn’t stop being superstitious about the first day of the new year. It must start on the right note or the rest of the year will be cursed, so no traffic accidents, no quarrelling and no breaking of crockery or mirrors.

I also had to start the year right by going for a run.

Jan 1, 2013 was the first New Year’s Day I didn’t exercise.

The strange thing was, I felt okay about it. I thought I would be plagued by guilt, but I felt great. Laying in bed in your pyjamas at 11am and spooning chocolate cake into your mouth is a fantastic feeling.

So fantastic, I felt emboldened to make my first resolution in a long time. Hence, my promise to chill this year.

I’ve since come up with seven other resolutions I’m almost guaranteed to fulfil and would make my life happier.

I resolve to leave for any destination 10 minutes earlier than I normally would so I will arrive in good time, relaxed.

I resolve to go on as many holidays as I can. Even if it’s just an overnight trip to Bintan, I shouldn’t wait six months for my next vacation.

I resolve to try a new food every month. Although I’m constantly seeking new places to eat, I invariably return to the same eatery and the same dish.

This year, I will break from my food rut and conquer my fear of certain foods, squishy, gelatinous ones in particular. The worst that can happen? I’ll never want to eat it again. The best? I get exposed to exquisite new tastes.

I resolve to set aside 60 minutes every day for a technology detox where I have no contact with any device with a screen – mobile phone, computer, TV, tablet. Sometimes you just need to unplug and give your brain, your eyes, a break. The world won’t crash in my absence.

I resolve to reply to, or delete, every e-mail as it comes instead of reading it but acting on it later. This will trim down my bloated e-mail accounts.

I resolve to pare down the passwords in my life. I’m currently living in password hell and at last count, have at least 12 different ones for my work, bank accounts, e-mail accounts, mobile phone and others.

I keep forgetting or mixing them up and it’s driving me insane. When I try and answer a “favourite question” to retrieve them, I tie myself in further knots. I will go through every account I have and reset the passwords to at most three common ones.

I resolve to wear my nicest clothes every day. Like most people, I save my best threads for “special” occasions and wear and re-wear my normal clothes the rest of the time.

But the older you get, the fewer big occasions there are and at this rate, I’ll never get to wear stuff I paid good money for.

The older you are, the more you also realise that life’s short and every day should be special and celebrated. Why deny yourself the thrill of wearing your nicest things when you can?

So this year, I’m going to pull out my best clothes from the back of the wardrobe and hang them up front. I’ll wear them everywhere and anywhere, even when I’m at home, in bed, chilling and Googling Demi Moore. — The Sunday Times/ Asia News Network