Be resolute about your resolutions

There is an old notion that beginnings are a magical time.

At the cusp of the year, when the limits of the old year are gone but the limits of the new year are not yet solid, there are possibilities perhaps not otherwise available, says Leonard George of the psychology department at Vancouver's Capilano College.

And so we make New Year's resolutions. We promise to lose weight, write a book, run a marathon, quit smoking, ditch coffee, get into a relationship, get out of a relationship, rescue a relationship, play with the kids more, etc., etc.

New Year's resolutions are so ubiquitous, the U.S. federal government actually has popular resolutions listed on its website usa.gov along with a whole series of links providing practical tips for success.

Under "Save Money," for instance, are tips for everything from saving on funeral expenses to reducing phone bills.

But New Year's resolutions are much more than trite or utterly pragmatic promises made on an arbitrary day.

Making New Year's resolutions tie us to a larger, more encompassing view of the universe.

We make resolutions because we can see into our futures, know our lives are finite, and therefore, think a great deal about how to live life well, says John Russell, philosophy department chairman at Langara College in Vancouver.

"We assume we have free will and can alter our destinies by our choices," Russell says. Making a New Year's resolution reflects "an optimism about our own ability to affect our destiny."

At the same time, New Year's resolutions fulfil a basic human need to redefine ourselves from time to time, and to connect with sources of meaning, George says.

"We don't literally believe the entire universe dances to a 365-day rhythm anymore," George says, "but it is still natural for us to situate our own cycles within the big one. Aligning our new beginnings with the cosmic new beginning (at New Year) is one way to link our small lives with the big picture."

But how much ability do we really have to change our behaviour and character? After all, popular wisdom seems to indicate that most New Year's resolutions will fail.

Philosophers have been questioning the existence of meaningful free will for centuries. For much of the last century, the predominant view, known as soft determinism, has been that although much is determined by things such as genetics and environment, our choices are still made by ourselves.

Over the past 20 years, the view that we can act independently of causal factors, or libertarianism, has been gaining ground, Russell says. Making choices based on reasons is different from acting in a simply deterministic way.

The frequent failure of New Year's resolutions is simply a reflection of the difficult challenges we set ourselves, he suggested.

"People are making resolutions about things that are difficult for them to do, so it's not surprising that many would fail," Russell says.

"Often these resolutions require us to engage in activities that are not our preferred way of behaving and there are genuine impediments to engaging in them."

A cavalier approach to New Year's resolutions is a lost opportunity to capitalize on a deep, instinctual rhythm that all human beings have, George says.

"If the gesture is shallow, then the lack of follow through will be similarly shallow. It's presented to us once a year, so why not? Why not have company while we're doing this?"