Many people will be hoping to make changes to their lives as the upcoming Year of the Pig commences. Xu Haoyu looks at the different ways in which you can achieve your commitments.

Pan Shuo got a cat on Jan 5. It wasn't a rash decision. Rather, he'd wrestled with the idea for more than eight months. "I was afraid to make a commitment," the 31-year-old Beijinger says. "I was so happy to have realized one of my New Year's resolutions when I followed through."

Pan graduated from the University of Toronto in 2010 with a degree in mathematics and statistics.

He has since worked in finance and is currently employed by a State-owned investment fund.

Pan normally works 10 hours on weekdays. He sometimes doesn't finish until around midnight when he has projects.

The fact that he's often busy at work seemed like a persuasive excuse for not getting a cat.

He'd often visit friends who lived in his apartment building to get some "love" from their pets.

His friend, Beijinger Yang Zeyu, who met Pan in Toronto, says Pan would glow when he petted his furry friends.

"He'd even buy pet supplies like wipes and litter during online shopping sales to give us," Yang says.

Pan says: "Playing with friends' pets is easy and fun because I can always say 'good night' and go home with fur stuck to my clothes like souvenirs. But raising my own pet is totally different.

"That's signing up for a decadeslong commitment that lasts for its entire life. It's a huge responsibility. You have to take care of their food, water, home and health. I could never do it halfheartedly."

The turning point came around New Year's Eve.

Pan's friend Shen Yuan, 30, who has known him since high school, had him watch her toy poodle, Wansan, when she spent four days out of town.

Pan relished the experience. He recalls waking up missing the animal's bark the first day after the dog returned home. The house seemed too quiet and empty.

"I made a decision then and there," Pan says. "I agreed with what Yang said. He said that one decision can have many possible outcomes. But nobody can see the path forward until they actually step onto it."

So, he bought Bunker, a longhair tabby, from an online pet club.

He was thrilled.

He bought two brushes, two cat beds, four cups to measure meals and enough cat food to fill a drawer.

"I felt much better after taking action compared with when I was hesitating."

Small steps

A Chinese saying goes, "The first step is always the hardest."

This ancient adage seems especially true for young people today, says 23-year-old Chen Ruohan from Zhejiang province's Qingtian.