horizon, with open arms. There are a lot of people, who at this

time, experience a gush of motivation and exhilaration

running through them, as the holiday euphoria envelopes their life.

However this does not come alone, but rather chaperoned with a lot of

New Year's resolutions. As we all call them “New Year's resolutions”,

there can be nothing as ironical as this, reflects Rajat Tiku.

The very name may suggest that they are avant-garde, on the contrary they are the most hackneyed and platitudinous phrases found in the annals of human history. As the New Year makes its way into our lives, we hear people saying, “I need to loose 15 pounds this year” and some may say,” I want to quit smoking this year” or “I want to earn 1 million dollars this year”. Earnest as they may sound, they are notoriously short-lived. All of us are free to have as many New Year's Resolutions as we want, but not living up to them and forgetting them, just shows how frail and fickle, a human mind can be. How can we make these New Year's resolutions work?

The key to making these New Year's resolution work is following the 4 P's method:

Be practical: for many goals, failure is virtually certain at the onset because they are not formed with serious thought and intent. First you must think, that why do you want that resolution. What is the reason that made you form that resolution?

Understand the importance of that resolution. Give a serious thought to what you want and why do want. Ask yourself,” how important is this resolution for me?” You should also gauge the outcome of that resolution. What will you be receiving? Would it be a good job, an attractive personality, longevity, money, or self respect? Analyzing these, would help you think better and avoid setting goals for the wrong reasons.

Next follows the most crucial task of deciding how achievable your goal is. Many a time people fail in achieving their goals because they are not attainable. There is a thin line between setting high goals and unattainable goals. Setting high goals is the impetus in itself which makes you work harder, but if you set a goal which is perceived by you as “difficult to achieve”, then that impetus gradually fades away.As we say, the most ceremonious it becomes, the better it is. Don't forget to make your New Year's resolution official. It means you should pen it on paper. This would serve an official written record of your resolution. You can also let your friends know about it.

Plan: the phrase” if you fail to plan, you plan to fail” may sound very trite, but it is the most apt phrase, when it comes to planning. Once you have decided on your resolution, create a plan for how you wish to accomplish it.

The key to forming a plan which is expedient is to identify the exact steps required to accomplish your goal. Once you have done this, then comes the most important task of assigning due dates to those steps. Be realistic in assigning time to your goals. In doing so you need to identify the barriers you think you will face and then form a comprehensive to-do list which would entail the measures required to overcome those obstacles. If you encounter any difficulty in planning these strategies, as planning does not come easily to most of us, you can have a mentor and avail yourself of his guidance.

Pursue: most plans fail if we don't follow them. The biggest task for us is to canalize the motivation and excitement that we had at the incipient stages. Your endeavor should be, not to let this excitement die and metamorphose this into a strong force which helps you wade through turbulent waters. Discipline is what you need to have at this stage. This involves sticking to your daily planner religiously, and following it gingerly.

Mr. Rajat Tiku

Director GCC Queen’s

Academy of English Language