2 January, 2017 12:35
CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
Local man, Mark Issa, believes the moment he finishes his last packet of cigarettes left-over from his New Years Eve celebrations, he is going to quit smoking.
He says even though they were technically purchased in the early hours New Years Day, he still counts them as one of the many poor decisions he made in 2017.
“2016 was a busy year. I was unable to make any real changes to my unhealthy diet and lifestyle because of how busy I was,”
“But that’s all about to change, because the Gregorian calendar now indicates that a new year has passed,”
Mr Issa, says that he is very thankful 2016 has come to an end, because it now gives him a ‘fresh start’ to focus on putting an end to the unsavoury lifestyle choices that his wife, children, parents, parents-in-law, family doctor and coworkers have been begging him to quit.
“I’m really glad this year is behind me, now I can focus on quitting cigarettes. After this last packet,”
“I mean they are nearly a dollar a pop nowadays and I’ve got about 12 left in the packet… I’m not going to throw them out. That’s a week’s worth of bread and milk in that packet,”
“When I’ve finished these ones, that’ll be it. Except for my 4oth next month… I might have a few cheeky smokes then. For old times’ sake.”
A 2007 study by Dr Bill Longhurst from the Monash University involving 3,000 people showed that 88% of those who set New Year resolutions fail, despite the fact that 98% of the study’s participants were confident of success at the beginning.
When it comes to quitting cigarettes, Australian men achieved their goal 22% more often when they focused their energy on new habits such as chewing sunflower seeds or illegal cockfighting, while women succeeded 10% more when they publicised their resolutions on Facebook and made every single person in their life accountable for the fact that they had a chemical addiction to an outdated and dangerous social activity.
