stance, one of
you will resolve to _rise earlier in the morning._ You fix upon no
definite hour, on any definite number of mornings, only you are going
to "_rise earlier_." Morning comes, and finds you sleepy and disinclined
to rise. You remember your resolution of rising earlier. "But then it is
_very_ early," you say. You resolved to rise earlier, but you didn't
resolve to rise just then. And this, it may be, is the last of your
resolution. Or perhaps you are, for a few mornings, a little earlier;
but then, at the end of a week or fortnight, you do not know exactly
whether your resolution has been broken or kept, for you had not decided
whether to rise earlier for ten days or for ten years.

In the same vague and general manner, a person will resolve to be _more
studious_ or more diligent. In the case of an individual of a mature and
well-disciplined mind, of acquired firmness of character, such a
resolution might have effect. The individual will really devote more
time and attention to his pursuits. But for one of you to make such a
resolution would do no sort of good. It would only be a source of
trouble and disquiet. You perceive there is nothing definite--nothing
fixed about it. You have not decided what amount of additional time or
attention to give to your studies, or when you will begin, or when you
will end. There is no one time when you will feel that you are breaking
your resolution, because there were no particular times when you were to
study more. You waste one opportunity and another, and then, with a
feeling of discouragement and self-reproach, conclude to abandon your
resolution. "Oh! It does no good to make resolutions," you say; "I never
shall keep them."

Now, if you would have the business of making resolutions a pleasant and
interesting instead of a discouraging, disquieting one, you must proceed
in a different manner. Be definite and distinct in your plan; decide
exactly what you will do, and how you will do it--when you will begin,
and when you will end. Instead of resolving to "rise earlier," resolve
to rise at the ringing of the sunrise bells, or at some other definite
time. Resolve to try this, as an experiment, for one morning, or for one
week, or fortnight. Decide positively, if you decide at all, and then
rise when the time comes, sleepy or not sleepy. Do not stop to repent of
your resolution, or to consider the wisdom or folly of it, when the time
for acting under it has once arrived.