New Year, newer resolutions. The concept of New Year resolutions is not something new. Mankind has been making more and more vivid resolutions and this year is no different. Some of the most common resolutions that we come across are resolutions such as to lose weight, to be more productive, to maintain attendance, to wake up early, to get better grades, to stop drinking or smoking and so on. The resolution varies from person to person but the fundamental idea behind the resolution remains the same; to bring about a change in oneself and to learn from one’s own mistakes.
Now answer my question sincerely, have you actually kept up with your resolutions? Have you followed your resolutions and have you brought about a change in yourself? Most of us, including me, make the most of simplest of resolutions, keep up with the resolution for a day or two or maybe a week at most and forget about it completely. Now has anyone ever wondered as to why this ever happens? Why do we leave our work unfinished?
Human beings have been procrastinating for centuries. The problem dates back to the ancient Greek Kingdom where philosophers such as Socrates and Aristotle developed a word to describe this kind of behavior: Akrasia. So what is this so called Akrasia effect?
Akrasia, is described as a lack of self-control or the state of acting against one’s better judgment. In hindsight one could say that Akrasia is a fancy word that can be used as a substitute for procrastination. Akrasia is what prevents you from following through on what you set out to do. An average human spends a majority of their time procrastinating. In our current society, procrastinating has become so common that it has even changed into a trend. #procrastinating – now this is literally trending worldwide as we speak.
Behavioral economists and researchers have come up with a term, “Time Inconsistency”. They believe that time inconsistency is a plausible explanation as to why we procrastinate a lot. The human brain has a tendency to value immediate rewards more highly than future rewards. This urge is termed as time inconsistency. When you’re making a resolution, say, to lose weight, you’re envisioning what you want to be in the coming future. You’re envisioning what change you want to bring in yourself in the coming year. But when the time arrives to make a stern decision, we swerve from our initial intentions. We are no longer making a choice for our future self. Our brain switches its interests and starts thinking about our present self. Physiologists have found out that our present self-loves instant gratification and it prefers this over long-term payoff. This might be one of the reasons why our motivation, which is seen at the beginning of each year, tends to fall out as the year progresses.
Now it’s all fun and games until things get serious. We can’t fully overcome the urge to procrastinate but we can build a framework so that our willingness to work overcome our urge to procrastinate. We need to plan our actions according to our capabilities. We know our strengths and weaknesses. So based on that we need to make resolutions and work upon those resolutions. Start small and then widen your horizons. We need to focus. Now this is easier said than done. Achieving inner peace and truly devoting our entire focus to our aim is no easy task. But with enough patience and practice, I believe that each and every one can achieve this feat. Last but never the least, we should have faith in ourselves. Believe in yourself and you can achieve any feat. Obstacles will be there, and procrastinating ain’t going to help you overcome those obstacles. We should work hard and aim for the stars. Believe in yourselves and you can achieve the impossible.
