Resolutions to better ourselves  

NEW YEAR

By THOMAS HUKAHU
IN my last article, I hinted that I would be sharing some stuff about a very successful and famous businessman and mentor of many others, however I have decided in the last couple of days to share some thoughts on this New Year since this is the first article of 2020.
In this article, let me give you some thoughts and tips on preparing yourself for the year, as in making resolutions or setting goals.

Have you made resolutions yet?
Some people are already posting their resolutions for 2020 on social media. At least one I saw stated that she does not know what her resolutions will be this year.
Mmm. How can one progress in life, if one does not set goals?
Making resolutions is also setting goals.
This topic of making resolutions, or setting goals, is not a new topic for me when I am writing in this supplement. I have written articles on this theme for years.
Students should make goals if they want to be successful.
Their teachers and other professionals must also set goals, as working people.
Parents or guardians also need to set goals, perhaps in supporting their children more in their education or starting a new career.
Firms or businesses also set goals, as in expanding their operation and making a bit more profit this year.
If we want to succeed as individuals or members of an organisation or firm, we must start making resolutions. Our success as individuals, or that of the group we are part of, will depend on that.
Possible resolutions for 2020
Here are some possible resolutions that people will make for this year. Some of them could be good for you to list down and work with them to improve yourself. They include:

• Stop smoking
• Stop drinking alcohol
• Stop gambling
• Stop swearing
• Stop stealing
• Lose weight
• Be kinder
• Be more positive
• Save more money
• Visit two centres in PNG
• Make new friends
• Write a book about someone
• Read one novel each month
• Start a new hobby
• Start a life with God
• Read one book a month

If you have not made resolutions yet, maybe you can pick a few from my list and make them yours.
The resolution of starting a new hobby is in itself a group of many themes – like learning a language, learning a new sport, building tables or learning to cook new dishes of food.

Some we subtract, some we add
Take a good look at the list above – and notice some things.
The first lot of resolutions would include people stopping bad habits. Even the resolution on losing weight is to stop bad eating habits. (I call these the unnecessary garbage that people carry.)
Those types of resolutions require you to cut off habits that you have adopted over the years. I said “adopted” because sometime in life you took on the habit of drinking alcohol or smoking, you did not enter this world with a cigarette or bottle of beer in your hand. You learned or adopted that habit by interacting with people who had the same habit.

Those habits have to be “subtracted” from your life.
On the other hand, some of the resolutions above are habits that you have to “add” to your life to succeed in some of your goals, as in learning to play the guitar as a new hobby. You are adding to your life the skills involved and therefore you must make time for those.
People who continue to learn new skills and new things are those who make time to sit down and learn. You must also do the same to learn new stuff.
Re-organise yourself to make that time – and that may mean taking off other things that occupy your time.
Time unwisely spent may include spending hours roaming around in town without any purpose. You could spend that time at home with a cup of tea and reading a good book.
There are other activities that we are already engaged in, however, we may need to put in more effort and time to become better. The more skilful football player is usually the one who spends a lot more time going over certain skills at one time in his life. That makes him look like a master when he is playing.

Resolution and being resolute
The word “resolution”, as defined by Oxford Learner’s Pocket Dictionary, as “firm decision”. The example given is: A New Year’s resolution to give up smoking.
The word “resolution” is related to the adjective “resolute”, which means determined or firm.
When we write down a resolution, we must be determined to keep to it. We must be resolute.
Remember too that our resolution is our resolution, it is not someone else’s. And therefore when we write ours down we must be determined to keep to it and make it a reality.
And yes, we will fail at times.
But each time we fail, we must get up again and remember that we want a better life.
As in the case of smoking and drinking alcohol, we know that sooner or later, our health will be affected. So, we must continue to work on them until we overcome such bad habits.
And, the earlier, the better.

Changing your friends may help
One important thing you must know is, you cannot make a resolution to stop drinking beer and yet spend all your free time chatting with your beer mates. In other words, to follow through with some of your resolutions, you may have to spend less or no time with bad mates.
Moreover, you should find better friends who can encourage you to live a clean life. Drop some friends, and make new friends.
The same goes for someone who wants to write books. You should join a group where people are actually writing books. They will encourage you and guide you. Your best friend or cousin may not be the best person to help you in this.
Now here is something personal.
I gave up smoking and drinking alcohol when I was 19 years old. Yes, that is decades ago. It was a very good decision because it stopped me from wrecking my own body as well as preventing me from spending unnecessary money on such wasteful pastimes.
Over time, I spent less time with smoking friends and more time with non-smoking friends.
For me then, it was a Christian decision. I was taught that I must take good care of my body because I will be held accountable if I destroyed it.
(If you are struggling with some of those habits and want a change, maybe it is time to talk to a pastor who believes in the Bible and belongs to a denomination where their congregation members do not smoke and consume alcohol. See that in my list of possible resolutions above I also have “Start a life with God”. This suggestion is in line with that.)
Some people also like to gossip when they see people failing to keep their resolutions. But you must ignore such people and continue in your effort in abstaining from taking bad stuff and adopting good habits.
Try to do the right thing. Remember, it is your life.

2020, be good to me: Something’s wrong
Let me point you to something that is commonly posted by people on social media.
They post something like, “Oh 2020, be good to me!”
Do you know what is wrong with that kind of thinking?
It promotes the kind of mentality that people can sit back, do nothing and expect heaven to rain blessings on them.
Do you think they will get those blessings? It is more likely that they will not get anything really significant happening in their lives this year.
The sure way of achieving things is to make a plan (as in setting goals or making resolutions), stop the bad habits, adopt better habits, and give your best shot in what you want to do. That is the practical way of making 2020 count, for you, your family or your organisation.
Some of us need to make big changes in our lives too if we want better results these year. We cannot continue to hold onto bad habits and neglect good habits.
Famous physicist and thinker Albert Einstein used to say: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
If you want to achieve something this year, you must start changing some of your habits – subtract some, and add some new ones, or put in more effort in the good habits that you already possess.
And – do not just sit back and wish that 2020 is going to bless you.
You make goals, and go out and achieve them. The blessings will come.

And for me
Personally for me in 2020, I will be living and studying in a different city, further from Kavieng, in New Ireland, where I was in in the past few years.
I have already drawn up a list on what I will do apart from my studies – places I will go to and societies or clubs I will join to improve skills and knowledge in areas I am interested in.
I learned many years ago that in education that your extracurricular activities are as important as your courses in university or college. (They also make your CV attractive when you add them in that document.)
There are things and skills that you will learn outside of campus life that will further open up opportunities for you.
(Yes, your academic performance is vital, but try to learn outside of your formal lectures and lessons as well.)
Among my list of things to do is to visit museums, old churches, beaches, and astronomical observatories, watch stage plays or symphony orchestras performing music, and visit parks and neighbouring towns and cities. (I already got an invitation to visit a group of linguists who have a weekly discussion on indigenous languages, including languages of our country.)
Such things will make 2020 richer for me. And I will share some of those experiences with you in this supplement to help you see more of the world around you.
Next week: How Warren Buffett made it big

• Thomas Hukahu is a freelance writer.