HAJJAT MADINA NAHAM OJALE: A Divergent Approach to New Year’s Resolutions

Now is that time of the year again to set goals to work toward for the next 12 months. It’s all a matter of setting the right new year resolutions.

I have made, then failed to keep, New Year’s resolutions many times during my adult life. I would start the new year with gusto to improve my health or well-being. After a few months reality would set in, and my motivation would waver. Disappointment dragged me down. I would not put forth the effort needed to sustain the change.

While new year resolutions have a bad rap, they really shouldn’t. With the big holidays behind us, January provides a mental fresh start and the freedom to say goodbye to whatever happened in 2024.

My story is not unusual; many of us make New Year’s resolutions with good intentions and don’t follow through. We do not keep our resolutions for many reasons: We lose interest, our priorities change, we don’t think our efforts are worth it. Resolutions may focus on any area of our lives, but often relate to health or lifestyle.

The passway to setting good goals is making them aspirational and yet attainable at the same time. Choosing a new year resolution that’s too big or one that requires a big overhaul of your daily routine will only set you up for frustration and failure. It’s also smart to pick a goal that can be broken down into a clear step-by-step process to conquer it.

Several years ago I took a different, broader approach I call “Looking Back, Looking Forward.” It has made a difference in my life, and it might change the way you think about New Year’s resolutions.

At the end of each year I review different areas of my life and rate my level of satisfaction (“looking back”). Then I decide which of these I need to work on improving during the upcoming year (“looking forward”). I do not focus on one specific area, but consider these different areas and which are most important at this time in my life. Some years I’ve been very satisfied with a specific area of my life, but become less satisfied later during a different year. This suggests life is fluid and not static, as is the change process.

My idea to conduct this annual self-review was stimulated by a co-founder of the Positive Psychology movement, Dr. Marty Seligman. He completes a retrospective (“looking back”) shortly after New Year’s Day in which he rates his overall level of satisfaction on a scale of 1 to 10 (abysmal to perfect) in eight domains. I adopted some of his domains and added some of my own, which I have altered over the years.

You can pick and choose your life domains: Delete those you are not interested in and add your own. This approach should be personal to your current life, and can change each year.

Most New Year’s resolutions focus on exercise, diet, and weight control in addition to wealth creation. My suggested approach is to also take stock of other areas of life, because there is much more to health. A list of the most common resolutions usually does not include issues such as love relationships or positive emotions such as kindness, gratitude, and altruism.

If you examine your past year, identify levels of satisfaction in each domain. You can give yourself a numerical rating (1-10) or describe your level of satisfaction (from very dissatisfied to very satisfied). You can then figure out what steps you can take to reach higher levels of satisfaction in the domain(s) identified and improve your life overall. You can also give yourself an “overall” rating in which you think about how the past year went for you. And, changes can be small or much more significant.

My focus has shifted to mentoring political young adults and connecting with my family. Being an important part of their lives has brought me joy that is indescribable. I am very satisfied with this area of my life and especially happy with my love relationships in and outside my family. My goal remains to keep love a high priority and spend quality time with my children, and other family members and loved ones. And, to share my gratitude and appreciation towards others.

I am fairly upbeat and positive, and share my positive feelings such as love and gratitude with others. I do not let negative people or bad experiences drag me down, but try to learn from these. Anger and worry are no longer my companions as these have limited value (although they can be helpful in some situations). I’m very satisfied with this area of my life. My goal is to continue to share positive emotions and limit the impact of negative emotions or negative thinking on my life.

I recently pulled myself out of a spiritual funk I experienced this past year. My goal is to improve my spiritual health through regular worship and prayer, and reading spiritual literature, not letting this domain slip to the bottom of my priority list.

Growing up in a loving family that has since then shaped who i’m today, I’ve likewise learned over the years to overcome greed, and bad habits in money management. My goals are to continue to reduce debt, save for retirement, and follow a more conservative approach to investing.

Although modern life is technologically oriented, this does not mean we have to be controlled by it. Looking forward, my goals are to increase some technology-free periods, read more books instead of e-publications, and read more fiction instead of work-related content.

I am highly satisfied with my work and accomplishments in this phase of my career and very grateful to the NRM National Chairman who doubles as the President of Uganda for the opportunity extended to me to serve this revolutionary political movement. My goals are to continue influencing and mentoring others and making new friends thereafter.

We all want to improve ourselves or the quality of our lives, and making time to do this exercise can give you insights on what’s important to you right now. Make your personal reflection relevant to your life. You may wish to evaluate and/or change different areas in your life.

I hope you have a great year 2025!

The writer is the Director of Finance and Administration at the National Resistance Movement.