In the commune: New Year's resolutions

We all know that resolutions are easier to make than keep but that certainly doesn't stop most of us from making a commitment to change ourselves for the better every new year.

Whether your resolution is to lose weight, make a career move, or get a make over all it boils down to one thing - becoming a better person. So put out out that cigarette, get on that treadmill or pick up the phone - make a change in 2011!

We asked Tribune bloggers what New Year's resolutions they have made for the upcoming year.

Ali Syed

My new year resolution is to write down my new year resolution so I remember it this time around! On a side note, I want to start the new year thinking I can do anything, and not limit myself to whatever I am invloved in right now. Also, I would like to set an excercise routine for myself and get in shape.

Khurram Baig

My primary resolution this year is to wake up to the world around me, which I was once well aware of but have now become dead to after being over taken my daily travails. Also, I used to write a lot and would like to begin again. Perhaps this could be the year that I finally begin my book! I would also like to become a better member of my family - a more responsible father, husband and son.

Farhad Fatakia

My new years resolution is to better understand the sports of polo and yachting. Both of which I have realised I have very limited knowledge of and that needs to be expanded on.

Ghausia Rashid

I've always made selfish resolutions, where it's all about me like lose weight, get better grades, learn to drive, etc. But there have been so many misfortunes in Pakistan this year that I resolve to make a difference, even if its in the littlest way possible, even if no one notices but the people affected. I feel like it is far more important to focus on the world around me, and that its about time I give back for once.

Sadaf Khan

I’m going to try to ignore the dismal news all around. I will not let my ‘niceness’ become a reason for exploitation anymore, I will make new friends and save enough for an amazing camera. Plus, every girl’s essential resolve, I will start working out.

Anam Ashraf

Lose weight, eat healthy and avoid soda - or try to avoid them and try to get a decent GPA at time of graduation

Natasha Raheel

1. Finish my pending research papers on alternative fuels and environmental policies of South Asian countries.


2. Write more, read more. Talk less.


3. Finish Tolstoy’s War and Peace (I started it in 2005).


4. Visit Turkey in the spring.


5. Go to reunions that I’ve missed over the years.


6. Be more organized.


7. Recyle more, reuse more.


8. Get a hair cut (get a make-over to be exact…but the term make-over sounds a bit desperate).

Zoha Tapia

1. Stop introspecting the past as it just adds to the wounds.


2. Look forward to the new year, keep the happy memories of the old one and use the bad ones as a learning curve.


3. Run for at least 30 minutes five times a week, editing health articles has made me realise the importance of a bit of exercise every day.


4. Not to take my work home and leave it at work. There is more to life than just work.


5. And also to pray at least one page of the Holy Quran every day. It gives some amount of mental peace even to a not so religious a person like me.

So basically my end resolution is that whatever I do the next year I have to make sure that I am mentally, physically and spiritually well.