Personally, I've never been a big fan of making new year's resolutions, to take effect each January. I have always thought that if something was important enough, just go ahead and get it done, without going through the process of formalizing its accomplishment into some kind of project within some kind of time frame.
But some people go that route, making and attempting to fulfill new year's resolutions, perhaps feeling that the announcement of a commitment to do so brings about
a kind of self-imposed pressure to, indeed, get them done.
So just how did the making of new year's resolutions get started?
Microsoft Bing AI's answer:
"The tradition of making New Year’s resolutions dates back to ancient times. The Babylonians are believed to be the first people to make New Year’s resolutions around 4,000 years ago. They celebrated the New Year during a 12-day festival called Akitu, which started with the vernal equinox in mid-March. During this festival, they would make promises to pay their debts and return borrowed farm equipment. The ancient Romans also adopted the Babylonian New Year and the tradition of resolutions. The timing of the New Year eventually shifted with the Julian calendar in 46 B.C., which declared January 1st as the start of the new year. January was named for the two-faced Roman god, Janus, who looks forward to new beginnings as well as backward for reflection and resolution. The Romans would offer sacrifices to Janus and make promises of good behavior for the year ahead. Today, New Year’s resolutions are a common practice around the world. People make resolutions to improve themselves, their lives, and their communities. Some popular resolutions include exercising more, eating healthier, quitting smoking, and learning a new skill."So the idea has been around for a while. But be that as it may, how about
the making of new year’s resolutions in a
cancer context, with resolution goals focused on improving one's cancer situation, and with determination to achieve them?
Naturally it's a notion that has been addressed, and there are actually a good number of websites that offer suggestions on how to do this, so I found, including lists of possible cancer-centered resolutions to try to achieve.
Websites such as the following. (No need to read them all, maybe just skim one or two, since they all say about
the same thing).
"Making and Keeping New Year’s Resolutions":
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/latest-news/making-and-keeping-new-years-resolutions.html"6 New Year's Resolutions to Reduce Cancer Risk":
https://www.oncolink.org/support/coping-with-cancer/oncolink-holiday-survival-guide/coping-tips-for-the-holidays/6-new-year-s-resolutions-to-reduce-cancer-risk#:~:text=6%20new%20year%27s%20resolutions%20to%20reduce%20cancer%20risk,get%20a%20routine%20physical%20by%20your%20healthcare%20provider."New Year's Resolutions in Cancer Survivorship":
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/navigating-cancer/202201/new-years-resolutions-in-cancer-survivorship"Realistic New Year's Resolutions for Cancer Patients":
https://www.roswellpark.org/cancertalk/201812/realistic-new-years-resolutions-cancer-patients Here is more or less what they are saying, taken together:
Exercise better and manage your weight
Follow a healthy eating pattern
Quit tobacco
Decrease your alcohol consumption
Get a routine physical from your health provider
Protect yourself from sun and UV light exposure.
And some specific observations from the articles:
" ... about 42% of cancer cases and 45% of cancer deaths in the US are linked to lifestyle-related risk factors. Some of those risk factors are excess body weight, inactivity, an unhealthy diet, tobacco use, and alcohol use."
" ... a study conducted in 2016 suggests that modifying these [negative] types of behaviors could reduce the risk of cancer-related death by nearly half."
"The vast majority of new year’s resolutions are abandoned by February."
"Create SMART goals to achieve resolutions:
S pecific
M easurable
A daptive
R ealistic
T imebound"OTOH, some feel that the whole matter of making and trying to fulfill new year's resolutions is a "bad idea," to put it in the words of the article linked below, from the MD Anderson website:
"Are New Year's Resolutions a Bad Idea?":
https://www.mdanderson.org/publications/focused-on-health/are-new-year-resolutions-bad.h33z1590624.htmlwhich says:
“Most New Year's resolutions are doomed to failure because it takes a lot more than a resolution to change ... It takes a self-understanding, skills, strategies and support."To achieve this, the article suggests, using the resolution to lose weight as an example:
1. Prepare a script. Steps to follow when you find yourself wavering on pursuing a resolution. "What I'll say and how I'll say it, then memorize it, then rehearse it with my wife. She'll tell me if I need to change the script to stay strong in my decisions."
2. Create a strategy. Specific ways to implement the script.
3. Build social support. "Talking to your friends and family and asking them for help. "Try telling your friends to invite you on walks and hikes instead of happy hour... or telling your family to stop buying cookies, potato chips and ice cream.”and concludes:
"Remember, it’s important to take new year’s resolutions slow. Start with self-understanding, develop some skills, plot some strategies and recruit some social support. One can easily say to the person for whom the making-and-achieving-of-resolutions works: go for it. Certainly the formal structure of the making/achieving of new year's resolutions offers for some the framework that inspires them to succeed.
While for others, like me, a post-it note on my keyboard is enough.