Dubai
Lose weight, quit smoking or learn something new are some of the most common New Year’s resolutions. Unfortunately, these are also the most commonly broken ones. Three quarters of those who makes resolutions give up within a week, as stated in a US-based Forbes magazine report. But, there is also the eight per cent that manage to successfully achieve their goals.
Gulf News reader Ramaprasad Macharlu Srinivasamurthy, a human resources manager based in Dubai, is amongst this small percentage of people. When the year 2016 began, he made a promise to himself to cut out a bad habit from his life — smoking. Taking a logical approach to the resolution, Srinivasamurthy tackled the issue in three different phases.
He said: “First, I had to understand the trigger for an urge to smoke and deal with that. Second, I learnt to say no when I had a craving, especially around those colleagues who would invite me out on short breaks to smoke. Finally, I would have fruits whenever I felt like smoking because I read that a habit is broken easily with another habit.”
A year has passed and Srinivasamurthy has successfully achieved his resolution and said that he will now carry “sweet memories and a great sense of achievement” with him forever.
He said: “One of the books I read said if you cannot control yourself, you cannot control others and this struck me like a boulder.”
A report published in US-based Time magazine states that at least 32 per cent of people around the world resolve to lose weight.
Gulf News reader Aftab Alam, a sales manager based in Sharjah, is one of them. He decided this would be the year when he loses weight and become a slimmer, healthier version of himself. Starting the task at a body weight of 88kg, Alam now weighs 74kg and feels good about his food choices.
He said: “I stayed positive by keeping in mind all the good I was doing to my body by watching my diet. But, that doesn’t mean I did not have any desserts or my favourite biryani.”
Through the year, Alam kept a track of his calorie intake and focused on the type of food he was eating at a specific time of the day. For example, he wouldn’t consume any carbohydrates, including sugars and starch, after 5pm. Additionally, he reduced the size of his meals and added a lot of salads, grilled foods and soups. For snack time, he opted for fruits instead of a chocolate bar.
He said: “When we put actions behind our goals, success happens. So I kept it simple and realistic by focusing on eliminating processed foods and staying positive at all times. I even rewarded myself with new clothes as the scales started showing favourable results. It doesn’t happen overnight. So, be patient and persistent.”
According to international studies, being positive and less stressed is amongst the top 10 most commonly broken resolutions. But, Anju Chhatwani, a teacher based in Dubai, managed to complete this task and claims to be a happier individual compared to last year.
In 2015, Chhatwani was feeling “sad, frustrated and depressed” by many of the situations in her life. She would be easily affected by an incident, especially after losing some near and dear ones. By the end of the year, the negativity started affecting her health and that is when she decided to change things.
She said: “Things will not always turn out as I plan. There will always be things that will go wrong and cannot be put together the way they were before. So, I learnt that I can always look up to having better times. I started taking my failures in a positive way. Instead of complaining about what is not there, I started focusing on what life has offered.”
On a daily basis, she aimed to make at least one person happy by offering help, a kind word or simply smiling at someone. This in turn would make her feel happier. “Everything has become a part of life, be it good or bad news, criticism, appraisal, good or bad times,” she said.
To distract herself when she felt down, she would do something creative, like painting, cooking or gardening. It helped her improve her talents and offered “peace of mind”.
Another report published in Time magazine states that at least 23 per cent of people set two to three resolutions, making it harder for themselves to achieve their goals.
Murugesh Sambasadhasivam, a technical support director, confesses to making many resolutions in the past, including avoiding procrastination, losing weight and financial restraint, and not being able to fulfill them. However, in the year 2016, he resolved to one thing and stuck to his word.
His father, who is above the age of 90, has been maintaining a journal for many years and still takes time out to write. Last year, he gifted these journals to Sambasadhasivam, who learnt a lot about his own life, especially his early years, after reading them.
Even though he had written some journals during his early adult years, the habit was long forgotten. But, this year, he succeeded in penning down his thoughts about every day.
He said: “The motivation was nothing materialistic, but the sense of accomplishment leading to self-control. This gives me confidence that I can train my mind. I developed a habit of falling in bed only after completing the journal for the day. I remained motivated because I wanted to see at least one journal with all the pages filled in for the year.”
So, even though it might be hard, there are still people who are managing to complete their resolutions and feeling great about it. Did you achieve your New Year’s resolution? Tell us at readers@gulfnews.com or post on our Facebook page.