The clock has turned three in the morning. The date and month in the calendar have already changed. I sit here suffering from all sorts of crises ranging from mid-life to existential to a mental breakdown. This is the time when I contemplate about the life choices that I have made. For instance, why did I eat a big burger last night when I am already dealing with weight gain? Or why I agreed to write this piece when I knew that looking at my life in retrospect and documenting it will not be very liberating? Alas! We tend to make choices at every moment, which define our lives for good or for worse. The annual change of the Gregorian calendar is one such incident wherein a majority of the world’s population makes resolutions regarding their growth, prosperity, success, and mostly ends up choosing not to abide by those resolutions. Therefore, it would be better to make resolutions about the things that we would not do, so that we focus on things that require our attention. 
While there is a plethora of things that one should not be doing, procrastination always takes the lead. It gives instant gratification and provides comfort due to which one feels like that one can skip the important commitments in life because there is plenty of time for fulfilling those commitments. Trust me people, the promise of procrastination that one can achieve one’s target later is as empty as the romantic promises of your love interests. This reminds me of a girl who intended to appear in the civil services examination but ended up procrastinating by religiously watching K-dramas on Netflix for two straight years without any break. In case you are curious to know the identity of this girl, there is just one thing to say: Currently, she is having a burger. Hence, it would not be wrong to say that procrastination is the devil’s whisper, which encourages you to put on hold or delay the important things in life. Therefore, I resolve not to procrastinate in 2023.
We all know that we tend to avoid our responsibilities and important work commitments by procrastinating, but why do we do so? Why is it that we find it extremely difficult to study for the exams even for one hour, but spend the entire night finding out what kind of potato we are or what is our spirit animal? Why can’t we focus on our jobs, but can effectively sort out a difficult level of candy crush? The answer to these questions lies in one word – comfort zone. We like to put off important work as we are not used to the challenging environment primarily because it requires mental and physical effort. Rather, we enjoy staying in our comfort zone as it does not demand the prerequisite of performing both intellectually and physically. It is however important to note that continuously complying with the comfort zone would make an individual docile and unimaginative. It will not only drain out an individual’s creative abilities but will also make them submissive and controllable. Hence, the comfort zone is synonymous with chains, and for 2023, I resolve not to fall prey to it.   
Back in my school days, I and my friends used to play Chinese Whisper, a game wherein the players were supposed to forward the idea or comment of the first player to the last player by whispering in each other’s ears. This was an extremely fun game to play as the players were not bound to forward the exact comment of the first player and were not restricted in understanding it either. So, the comment that reached the last player used to be entirely different, so much so that it used to bewilder the first player. This was merely a game back then, but now, it constitutes an important position in our lives; it is difficult to imagine even a day without gossiping, and if we are unable to do so during the daytime when we are socially active, we tend to meet people late during the evenings and rant about things and people we dislike. My last night is a perfect example in this regard as one of my friends called me just because she felt the need to gossip about something. So, we did so for more than two hours. Although, we enjoy gossiping, we forget to consider the emotional or psychological effect on them if our words reach the people against whom we are spewing our negative thoughts, or even what they would think of us. It is important to mention that I reached this conclusion when I heard some moti-waiting remarks about myself. Hence, I resolve not to gossip about people in 2023.
We always think of making New Year’s resolutions and achieving targets that might ensure our success, but we tend to forget that we need to stay away from some toxic habits that we have inherited from various sources over time. Therefore, for the coming year, I do not have the resolutions to do things. Rather, I have the resolution not to become a slave to procrastination, comfort zoning and gossiping as these traits have been making me toxic and stopping me from progressing in my life. HH

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