As the beginning of 2025 kicks off, it is without a doubt that the vicious cycle of New Year’s resolutions begins. With an ambitious start to the year, many peers, including ourselves, set high expectations and goals that surely they are to finish, right? Whether that be losing a few extra pounds or truly bettering oneself this year, it is seemingly the case that not everyone can see that finish line of staying loyal to their resolutions all year long. Is it possible we are influenced by others’ goals? What is actually holding us back in the long run?
The purpose of a New Year’s resolution is psychological. Setting a goal in a fairly realistic amount of time as a “reset point” can release dopamine once followed through. Besides the obvious social norm, setting a goal makes people genuinely feel better about themselves. Yet, when many people were interviewed about their goals, almost none of them believed that they would be able to achieve their objectives for the entire year. When Nate McKean was asked about his resolution, he stated, “I wanted to wake up earlier. I will probably keep it up for four months but will lose motivation to wake up as the year goes on.” Similarly, Alan Omurzakov answered, “My goal is to stop spending money, but I will probably keep it up for about a month. I can’t restrict myself for longer than a month.” Both interviewees were not 100% certain in their goal, unlike Jessie Moylan who has set a more realistic goal for herself. She stated, “My New Year’s resolution is to train more often for soccer and I will hopefully keep it up until summer. Since I’m going to college for soccer I want to keep up training every day until I leave in the summer .” The differences between goals set the failures and the successes apart from one another.
Some of the most common resolutions people make are to lose weight, work out more, save money, and learn a new skill. Although at face value these goals do not seem too lofty for the average person to conquer, according to Columbia University, only 10% complete their goals by the end of the year, and even worse in a recent study done by Forbes in 2023, this percentage dropped down to just 1%. The second Friday in January has even been deemed the name “Quitter’s Day” as this is when most people decide to drop their New Year’s resolution. There is always room for improvement in our lives but setting a big goal sounds easier said than done. The issue stems from people having an “all or nothing” mentality, where if they falter instead of trying to regain focus on their objectives they simply quit altogether. Also, most of the time these goals are too vague, like simply stating “work out more”. Instead, be more specific and plan to work out three days a week rather than have a goal that has no end in sight.
2024 may not have been the most accomplished year, but 2025 has just begun with plenty of time to achieve any goal possible. This year, break resolutions into manageable steps, conquering each one from month to month. Even tracking progress and holding oneself accountable will hopefully ensure that a 10% success rate can be achieved by anyone.
