With the New Year comes New Year’s Resolutions– everyone has opinions on Resolutions, but whether they’re beneficial or worth the time is still debatable.
According to Dominique Davison, author of “3 reasons why setting New Year’s Resolutions is important,” on Limeade, only 9% of Americans, out of the 41% who make Resolutions, could follow through with them and be successful. They say having a New Year’s Resolution is still a good idea because it promotes an optimistic view of the future and motivates them to act.
“They force you to evaluate where you’re at in order to be able to plan things that are going or not going well in your life,” counselor Amy Reoh said. “So, looking, reflecting and being able to focus on one thing you want to do differently or better is a good thing.”
Although New Year’s Resolutions are beneficial for reflection, there’s still the issue of being unable to fulfill them. Cynthia Vinney, author of “The Psychology Behind Why New Year’s Resolutions Fail,” on Very Well Mind, emphasizes that most people aren’t successful in their Resolutions because they think about too big of a change and may not be ready for that change right off the bat instead of slowly making small changes.
“I don’t like the idea that people wait for a whole year to pass by to create change,” senior Brianna Hernandez said. “If you want, you can create change in an instant. Every day is a new day. I feel like with New Year’s Resolutions, people can put in the work, but then they just lose motivation after a while.”
Most Resolutions are abandoned by the end of January. Common ones involve eating healthier, sleeping more, or even learning a new language– which are long-term goals. Vinney continues in her article to say that people try to make big changes too fast, so making smaller changes or goals as a Resolution can be more effective than setting one big, overwhelming goal.
“There’s a certain air around New Year’s Resolutions that tends to leave people without even completing their goals because they mess up once and think it’s all over,” senior Daniel Rigdon said. “There’s no need to make a resolution on New Year’s to determine that you’re going to do something.”
Change can happen at any point, but using a slower Resolution process can be beneficial. The New Year allows one to look back and reflect on past mistakes and victories, but setting too big of a Resolution can cause anxiety or stress. Starting with the beginning steps of the bigger goal may be the key to a successful Resolution.
