Now that we are a couple of weeks into 2016 and the festivities of the holidays have given way to the dullness of January, it is time to consider those new year’s resolutions and promises that we made to ourselves as we were sobering up on New Year’s Day. For most of us, these resolutions involve changes in how we live our lives, such as wanting to lose weight/get fit, eating a healthier diet, or consuming less alcohol or caffeine. While we may have the best intentions for ourselves, more often than not, we have broken our resolution within the first 2 months because we lack one essential component: a plan.
Our word plan originates from the Latin planum, meaning a flat or level surface. Considering that this root varies so much from our modern understanding of the word as typically meaning “an organised proposal or strategy,” the logic may be difficult to understand. Over time though, the idea of being a “flat surface” began to include the concept of a drawing or a design that was upon the flat surface: this drawing or design usage eventually achieved a broader interpretation thanks to military usage. Directly though, our word comes from the mid-16th century French plan, which by this time meant a “ground plan or a map.”
Do you have a plan for 2016?
Looking at some of the statistics, it appears that, to keep our new year’s resolutions, we need all the help we can get. According to Statistics Brain Research Institute, 62% of Americans make new year’s resolutions, and though 49% report infrequent success (probably the first 1-2 months), only 8% actually achieve their resolution in the long-term. Given, people who make resolutions on occasions like this are more apt to change their lifestyle than those who don’t make resolutions, 24% of people who do make resolutions consistently fail at them. (Though these numbers are regarding Americans, we can safely assume that, in this aspect, regardless of nationality, people are the same.) Perhaps, as the old saying suggests, they’re not necessarily planning to fail, but failing to plan.
Demonstrating the way that military usage altered the understanding of our word, the first known usage in English of our word comes from David Person’s Varieties in 1635, where he writes that, “In marshalling of our armies, and Battles, our modern plans jump almost with those of the Ancient; yet our Sieges, beleaguering of townes, and instruments of war do far exceed theirs.” Almost half a century later, in John Dryden’s His Majesty’s Declaration Defended (1681), we can see “plan” moving from military matters to more civil matters: “What will become of those fine Speculative Wits, who drew the Plan of this new Government, and who overthrew the old?” Finally, by the turn of the 20th century, our word had begun to be used on a personal level: Edward M. Forster, in Howards End (1910), writes, “Helen..wrote an unsatisfactory postcard from the shores of the Lake of Garda, saying that her plans were uncertain and had better be ignored.”
