How 2020 Reaffirms My Resolution Writing Method
By: Ivan Yong Wei Kit
Tags: Writing, Resolutions, Productivity, Philosophy, Self

In between putting on a face mask, removing it; constant washing of hands, or rubbing them with sanitisers; disinfecting clothes and shoes upon reaching home or the office, time has seemed to take on the speed of light.

We have stepped into September, we have passed even the height of summer.

The heat of summer has been the most welcomed one this year, with the hope that it will help to slow down or even kill the coronavirus. Unfortunately, that has not been the case.

The coronavirus is still spiking in several countries such as the U.S. where it tops the chart with over 5 million infected cases and over 160,000 deaths at the point of writing. And the dreaded winter that is approaching carries a sense of foreboding.

The “Year Twenty-Twenty” could have been spelt “Twilight-Twilight” and not many would have disagreed.

And many would concur that the year had thrown a spanner into the works of their new year resolution.

Your 2020 Resolution

Earlier this year, I wrote about what I have learned from 10 years of making New Year’s resolutions and how I intend to stick to the method that I found to be working in those 10 years.

The key was to turn my “why” to my “who”.

Instead of asking myself why I am making this resolution, I asked myself who am I making this resolution for; effectively turning it into a promise.

My 2020 New Year’s resolution is a promise to my wife, my family and myself.

How about your? Were they a “why” or a “who” led resolution?

If you have been fortunate enough to write them from a “who” perspective, do allow yourself a pat on your back as your resolution should and must still be valid for consideration at this point.

However, if you had made a less fortuitous choice, then you might need to change your method in crafting the 2021 resolution. Do allow me to convince you why you should pivot to this new direction of resolution writing.

Why a “Who” 2020 Resolution Would Still be Valid

If your resolution this year is to travel to several countries; is likely to be an unachievable feat no matter how desperate you work on it. Most countries are still in lockdown and if they are not, they are still closed to tourists.

However, if you had crafted that travel resolution by answering the “who” question which in essence making a promise to that someone, I am pretty sure you are still able to fulfil that resolution.

Let me illustrate it out to you. Say hypothetically, one of your 2020 resolutions is to travel to Thailand.

I would like to travel to Thailand in the year 2020 as a reward for graduating from my bachelor program.

Here, you have resolved a promise to yourself for graduating, you would be intrinsically motivated to see it come to pass, coronavirus or not.

What you would probably have done is to take a virtual field trip to Thailand with Google Earth and walk on the streets of Bangkok with your fellow virtual travellers.

You would also probably have connected with Thais on social media and to bask in the warmth and friendly faces of ordinary Thais. Albeit, this pales in comparison of actually getting onto a plane to “Amazing Thailand”, you would still have kept your word to visit for it is a vouch you have made to someone: you.

On the contrary, if your resolution is a “why” led one, you would probably have given up on the idea, without even attempting to try.

The Promise Theory

In 2004, Mark Burgress, a computer scientist and former professor at Oslo University College, proposed the “Promise Theory”.

This theory was designed in the context of computer science; with the sole purpose of solving problems inherent with the current computer management system that is based on an obligation.

In layman terms, the current computer system is based on an obligation logic, whereby “agents” in the system, could be a computer or a printer are obligated to behave in a certain way when it is sent a command. However, Mark believes that all agents in the system should have autonomy of control and they can only be responsible for their behaviour by keeping to their “promises”.

A ‘promise’ is a declaration of intent whose purpose is to increase the recipient’s certainty about a claim of past, present or future behaviour. (Wikipedia, 2020)

In other words, it is about building trust on the part of the recipient; whether previous promises have been kept or not, with trust increasing proportionately to promises kept.

In parallel, this is no different to us, humans. By making promises and keeping them, we earn trust and if we are the recipient, we will trust the promisor more.

The “Promise Theory”, had sufficiently explained how we tend to want to increase trust in others by doing what is within our means; say what we do and do what we say.

After all, a promise made is a promise kept.

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