It is a tradition in the United States to set a personal goal to be completed during the new year. These resolutions have the purpose of changing something in the life of the goal-setter. Most of these promises consist of goals for self-improvement, relationships or to reach accomplishments. 

In a poll, Magnet found that 25% of OHS students have New Year’s resolutions for 2022. These resolutions vary from eating healthier, improving grades, gaining better mental health and spending more time with friends and family. Senior Aiden Packard said, “My New Year’s resolution for 2022 is to invest more time in music making for my YouTube channel.” It is tradition to make new life changes at the beginning of a new year, and that inspires many to make changes. 

Resolutions are also notorious for being inconsistent and failing to make any changes in lifestyle at all. According to forbes.com, approximately 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail. The majority of people give up their resolutions during the first six months of the year and many resolutions are repeated year after year. Senior Justice Holmes said, “I think that New Year’s resolutions are an excuse to put off healthy lifestyle changes; placing a purposeful action on a date is ineffective. If you want to make a change, you should just do it.”  Younger people, like high school students, are more likely to make a goal for the new year and not complete it.

Why do New Year’s Resolutions fail so often? 

A big part of negligence with resolutions is not planning for success. People establish unclear goals with unrealistic expectations and no idea how they should complete targets. To create effective resolutions, a person should create a plan along with their resolution and have smaller goals to meet during the year. Packard said, “Having someone else doing it alongside you helps keep you both accountable. The best way is to do it with others.” The main component of having a successful New Year’s resolution is being determined to make the change and sticking with it. 

Wanting change is a part of human nature. The transition to a new year makes change more natural. Packard said, “The impression that I get from New Year’s resolutions is people want to make a major change in their lives, and it is easier to do with others also making changes.” Setting a resolution is a good way to help reflect on what’s important and focus on what matters in life. Whether these new goals will actually change anything will be proved during this year of 2022.