Resolution resignation paints clear picture of self fulfilling prophecy

Graphic by Jad Alzoubi

Happy New Year! The ball drops, confetti falls, people take a day to reflect on a year of bad choices and mistakes, considering ways to improve themselves in the next one. 

A common tradition is making New Year’s resolutions. People share habits they plan to start and their goals for the year, ranging from pledges to finally hit those gyms or quitting bad habits. 

As fervid as one may be on that first day, participation and motivation drop precipitously by the end of the month, begging the question of the effectiveness of these empty vows. 

New Year’s resolutions may sound admirable, but they typically yield no lasting fruit. A major reason for failure arises from a shocking lack of realism. 

Many tend to create resolutions that are unrealistic, leaving them devastated by poor results. The most popular resolution of 2023 was to exercise more, but people tend to lose motivation when they don’t see results instantly. People blame lack of time, resources, and more, but truthfully many simply lack the effort to create that time. 

People also have tendencies of engaging in resolution hyperbole, vowing to lose extreme amounts of weight or making risky investments that don’t often pan out well in the long-run. These are two examples that often require months of daily work that a few hundred stocks or a week-long fast cannot complete. People striving to lose weight or earn more must research the healthiest ways to do so and start by setting small goals. Overall, this resolution can lead to eating disorders and bad habits of gambling, creating all the more harm. 

With all these negatives, you may feel discouraged to even create a goal. But stop right there! With proper planning, taking advantage of the fresh start of a new year can work in your favor. 

The first step of doing it correctly is by creating a plan for action. Instead of just stating the desired goal, make sure you understand how to plan to actually do it. If someone wanted to exercise more during the year, they could accomplish it by going to the gym every other day of the week. Be specific and quantify your goal. 

Another way to complete resolutions is to track your progress. As mentioned previously, many fail to keep their goal due to a lack of instant results. 

If someone started exercising every other day of the week, they could take a picture of themselves to see what changes appear. These techniques could work outside of physical goals, with many resources like mood journals out there to track happiness or coping skills. 

But why does society focus on self-improvement only at the beginning of the year? New Year’s resolutions would be much more effective if, rather than making long-term goals, people focused on small, short-term resolutions on a monthly basis. For example, an ineffective resolution would be to never drink soda. Key word: never. Using words like never or always within your new years resolution make the task much more daunting than it is. A more effective resolution would be to maybe drink less soda. That way, the resolution seems doable. 

The most important thing to understand about New Year's resolutions is that you can make a noticeable change in your life any time of the year. You don’t have to wait for a certain day or time of year. Putting so much weight on a New Year's resolution that seems impossible is going to be very hard to achieve.

A year is a long time for one’s life to change, so it is nearly impossible for one to predict what they will be doing and thinking. This makes attaining long-term goals challenging. For upcoming New Years’ resolutions, focus on achieving a desirable mindset or habit. Remember what you can do rather than what you cannot.

by Jasmine Blustin and Haniya Mecci

Published January 30, 2023

Oshkosh West Index Volume 119 Issue 4