Remember saying: “I will quit smoking.”

“I will exercise more and eat healthy.”

“I will be more careful about my finances.” “I will spend more time with my family.”

Chances are you might have made one of the above resolutions on New Year’s Eve.

And chances are you will have broken them by now. Welcome to the pointless project of making — and soon breaking — New Year’s resolutions.

What you are left with shortly into 2008 is a sense of guilt at having broken a deal made with yourself. And self-induced guilt is one bit of excess baggage we all could do without.

Sure, most resolutions people make for the new year are noble, desirable even. It is rare — unless one is zany — that we make resolutions that are self-destructive. New Year’s resolutions are likely to be positive, intended to set right what one perceives to be wrong with one’s life or to simply make it better. If that is the case, why wait for a new year’s day to make a start?

This might sound somewhat silly, but the fact is that every day is another chance to make a fresh beginning. That is, if you want to. One does not have to wait for an appointed day to get cracking. Even those who speak in favor of the annual resolution-making exercise admit that the promises made are rarely kept.

They argue that it does not matter if the resolutions are broken; the process of making them is good enough to refresh the spirit. If so, then let’s just call it an annual spring-cleaning of the mind and be done with it.

By attaching so much significance to the act of making promises on New Year’s Day, we stress ourselves out silly. Worse, we put unnecessary social pressure on those souls who do not subscribe to this ritual and who have to, year after year, explain their points of view.

So if you want to go ahead and make new resolutions, please do. Just don’t make a song and dance of your personal guilt trip.

And so the cycle continues. But, in the process, with each new self-commitment — though it might not be kept — something happens that helps us evolve.

Beginning 2008 with a resolve to get rid of a pesky habit is much more fun than being cynical about it. And who knows? One day we might surprise ourselves — and others — by sticking to our resolve for not just that one year but maybe for the rest of our lives.

Most resolutions made on New Year’s Day are to do with correcting lifestyle habits — saying ‘no’ to smoking, choosing a diet plan, walking regularly or enrolling in a gym for physical fitness — but some are also about keeping in touch with friends and relatives, reading more, making time for leisure activity, being kind and budgeting well. Students might plan study schedules or aim to watch less television. It does not matter if the enthusiasm is sporadic or short lived.