Broken Resolutions

It's that time of year again.  No doubt there will be plenty of new year's resolutions in the offing.  If the statistics of recent research are to be repeated, the majority of those making resolutions will fail.  Now there are plenty of 'experts' offering reasons why resolutions fail and conversely, how to succeed.  I'm not an expert and I don't want this post to be a lecture or self-help programme, but merely food for thought.  It's just personal observations on what I see as the futility of rigid ambitious resolutions and maybe a more likely-to-succeed road to change.

Life is about evolution.

Evolution is the change in the inherent characteristics of biological populations over successive generations.  It is the continuous adaptation to the environment through successive very small changes over a long period of time.  So what relevance has evolution to resolutions?  Well let me be clear that this is 'Hayman's Theory' and is not based on any firm scientific foundation that I am aware of.  I believe the body and mind adapt to small and slow changes, 'evolution', rather than huge and rapid changes, 'revolution'.  So a resolution that involves a sudden change of lifestyle, for example a regular diet of burger and chips replaced by green succulent rabbit's food, is unlikely to succeed.  On the other hand, small incremental changes, starting by reducing the quantity and frequency of the burger and chips diet, are more likely to be sustainable.

The second analogy between successful resolutions and evolution, relates to the fact that evolution is all about genetic survival.  The catchphrase is: Survival of the fittest.  So changes are generally for the better, not for the worse.  That said, the evolution of humans from four-legged to two-legged is possibly a cause of widespread back problems.  But if we accept that change for the better is preferable to change for the worse, than maybe we should view resolutions in that light.  Yet most resolutions are 'negative', i.e. giving something up, like stopping smoking, reducing drinking, cutting out chocolates........you get the picture?!  Whereas each negative could be reframed as a positive.  So stopping smoking leads to longer life, more money in your pocket, better smelling breath and so on.

To conclude, small changes over long periods of time aimed at positive lifestyle changes are preferable to the misery of the rapid infliction of pain without any obvious gain.

Happy New Year!