Fortune News | Apr 26,2019
Sep 7 , 2019
By Tsion Fisseha
The Ethiopian year is almost over and the New Year is around the corner. Ethiopia’s 2012 is almost here with all the hopes of prosperity and happiness. The New Year, besides the mere change of numbers on the calendar, also marks a shift in day to day phenomena both on a personal and societal level.
The Ethiopian New Year is also a holiday that brings the entire nation together. It is a celebration of crossing over from the old to the new. The day is celebrated in different ways: from spending time with family to volunteering and sometimes, for the ones who happen to be too tired, sleep.
Another thing that is very common during this time of the year are New Year’s resolutions: a to-do list meant to change one’s life.
Almost everyone, both consciously and unconsciously, build a list of things they want to achieve for the coming year. From wanting to change the past by getting rid of bad habits and addiction to developing new habits like saving more money or learning a new skill. Despite the variation, in one form or another, human beings have developed a belief system that pressures them to come up with resolutions attached to a new year.
Even though resolutions are a marvelous way to get what one wants, more often than not, they are forgotten, or they fail completely and utterly. In fact, studies show that 35pc of us who make New Year’s resolutions break them by the end of the first month. And only 23 pc of everyone who makes a resolve will see it through to completion.
Despite our intense desire to come up with a beautiful chart that displays steps to make our lives better, we make very similar mistakes in our efforts to achieve those desires. Catherine Pulsifer, the author of Change Your Life, put it this way, “Why do New Year’s Resolutions fail? Mainly because they are only a statement or what we wish for in the coming year. There are usually no action plans, no deadlines, no backup plans. Sometimes they are unrealistic resolutions, with no other thought or plans besides the statement.”
Our desire to change keeps getting pushed to the new year instead of being done right then and there. We spend more time thinking about the plan and the to-do list than actually having to do anything. We also fail to believe that we are capable of doing the things that we set forth. We even fail to realise that it takes more than a scribbling to make the difference we wish to see. It takes a good deal of discipline and commitment to get results. It also takes a great deal of sacrifice and the ability to break away from comfort zones that have created one until this point in time.
This isn’t to say resolutions are bad or a waste of time. It is not to say that time and energy should not be spent trying to make changes worth making. It is not to say that the new year is not a splendid opportunity to start from a clean slate or a blank canvas. It is, however, to say that the blank canvas, whether by desire or design, will be painted on. And if one wants to bend and alter the shapes of their masterpiece, then one should be careful not to choose the wrong colour pattern nor should one try and finish the picture in one day. Painting takes time, and so does the achievement of goals.
PUBLISHED ON
Sep 07,2019 [ VOL
20 , NO
1010]
Fortune News | Apr 26,2019
Radar | Oct 18,2025
Fortune News | Aug 18,2024
Viewpoints | Nov 04,2023
Radar | Aug 06,2022
Radar | May 16,2020
Radar | Oct 07,2023
Radar | Oct 12,2025
Radar | Oct 30,2021
Fortune News | Jun 29,2019
Photo Gallery | 185853 Views | May 06,2019
Photo Gallery | 175894 Views | Apr 26,2019
Photo Gallery | 171451 Views | Oct 06,2021
My Opinion | 139410 Views | Aug 14,2021
Dec 22 , 2024 . By TIZITA SHEWAFERAW
Charged with transforming colossal state-owned enterprises into modern and competitiv...
Aug 18 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Although predictable Yonas Zerihun's job in the ride-hailing service is not immune to...
Jul 28 , 2024 . By TIZITA SHEWAFERAW
Unhabitual, perhaps too many, Samuel Gebreyohannes, 38, used to occasionally enjoy a couple of beers at breakfast. However, he recently swit...
Jul 13 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Investors who rely on tractors, trucks, and field vehicles for commuting, transporting commodities, and f...
May 9 , 2026
The Ethiopian state appears to have discovered a fiscal instrument that is politicall...
May 2 , 2026
By the time Ethiopia's National Dialogue Commission (ENDC) reached the end of its fir...
Apr 25 , 2026
In a political community, official speeches show what governments want their citizens...
For much of the past three decades, Ethiopia occupied a familiar place in the Western...
May 9 , 2026 . By NAHOM AYELE
Finance Minister Ahmed Shide entered the last quarter of the fiscal year with a budge...
May 9 , 2026 . By NAHOM AYELE
At the Federal High Court's Lideta Division, on Dejazmach Bekele Weya Street, one of...
May 9 , 2026 . By BEZAWIT HULUAGER
Mayor Adanech Abiebie's cabinet has approved an additional 9.9 billion Br budget, a m...
May 9 , 2026 . By BEZAWIT HULUAGER
The fight over Cosmo Trading Plc has outgrown the courtroom where it began. What star...