I vow to make a promise on the eve of the new year

JAKARTA (JP): Let's lift our hands up into the air and shout as loud as we can, "Happy New Year! Happy New Millennium!!"

Like people say, New Year is the time to change yourself into a better person. So, for those of you who have made some improvements this year, continue your shouting with "Yes, I have!". (long silence)

That's what I thought.

Nobody has done anything or planned anything to change themselves this year.

So, let me ask you to join me in making some plans to do anything that can improve yourselves in this new year, starting with selling your kidney and cornea to pay your Christmas and New Year's credit card bills.

I am talking about New Year's resolutions. There are only a few people in Indonesia who make New Year's resolutions, and most of them are now trying to stop the habit because they have lost their motivation. "It turns out that I love myself more without those stupid resolutions. Now I can eat as many pizzas as I can, with jelly donuts and cheese burgers as toppings", one of them said.

On the other hand, people who live abroad, like in the U.S., are more accustomed to making this kind of commitment. They try their best to keep those promises for the whole year and they probably succeed. And like those people, we in Indonesia should do the same. You might want to ask why we should imitate a habit from people who live thousands miles from here? The answer is very simple: because they have Baywatch. On that show, they can see gorgeous girls and guys whose only job is running in slow motion on a beach. Watching that show every week, most of the audience will be inspired to improve themselves every year to become more and more like movie extras.

They are motivated by that show to do something to make their lives better, and one of many ways of doing so is by making New Year's resolutions.

Those people should inspire us to do the same. We should embrace their spirit. The spirit that makes us want to have beautiful and defined bodies, to have cool and good-looking friends, and to have a minor accident -- like breaking a finger nail -- but still get mouth-to-mouth respiration from Pamela Anderson. That is why we should make our New Year's promises.

It is not very hard to make your own New Year's resolutions. I am sure that you have at least one person in your life who is always telling you to improve your life by doing this or doing that. Now, instead of just ignoring them and giving them a whack on the head, we should prepare our ears, open our heart to them and move to another city that has more fat people.

No, what I mean is that you should listen to them and let them tell you about their opinions. Give them a chance to let you know that you have a belly the size of a piano and make a resolution to overcome that problem, like to buy a bigger size of pants.

Unfortunately, making a resolution is the easy part. The hardest part is sticking to it for the entire year. Most people abroad have had success in doing this. This is thanks to the secret that makes their determination so strong: excuses. That's how! They make a resolution and think about every excuse possible to break it. For instance, if someone's resolution is to stop drinking alcohol, he or she would make a whole range of excuses to break it, like: "Well, I am graduating today, so it is okay to give my resolution a little break and make myself a little whisky", or: "The pizza delivery has arrived. Let's celebrate that. Give me some beers!"

But later it becomes harder and harder to make an excuse, because you can only drink to celebrate the coming of Thursday once a week. Therefore, sometimes it is better to just stick to the resolution, something so hard to do that you would probably deny it three minutes after you made it.

But don't worry, that is the most common problem people have to deal with when they make a New Year's resolution. Therefore, I will discuss why it is very hard to make and follow a New Year's resolution:

1. People forget to make a New Year's resolution.

Yes, that usually happens because they are still drunk or hung over from the New Year's Eve party until March, when people are no longer interested in making a resolution. Therefore, you should always make a resolution in January, no matter how drunk you are. Of course that could cause a guy to make some stupid, ridiculous, and impossible commitment like, "I will stop watching porn", but at least he can say to his horny friends that he has a resolution.

2. People put to much emphasizes on the goal.

Many people give up because they are concentrating on their goals instead of their efforts. This can give them too much pressure and make them confused about how to attain that goal. Therefore, do not make your resolution in the form of a goal like this: "I will lose 50 pounds this year". Instead, you should make alternative resolutions that emphasize the efforts, like: "I will go jogging every morning", "I will not eat 3-weeks-old leftover pizza", "I will drive pass my gym and wave at the trainer every time I come home from my office" or "I will start my diet as soon as I find out how many kilograms 50 pounds is".

3. People face too many challenges.

Many people fail to keep their promises when they are facing a challenge. Many friends of mine gave up their promises to quit smoking when they were offered a cigarette. That should not happen to you. You should believe in yourself. Read a lot of books about motivation, keep in mind that smoking is bad for your health, and run your car into your friend who offers you a cigarette.

There is so much you can achieve by making a New Year's resolution every year and doing your best to follow it. And I hope I can keep my resolution for the year 2000, which is "I will start making a real New Year's resolution next year."

-- E. Effendi