New year same you, Why New Year’s resolutions don't work
Photo of Henry Miller studying (Nora Sitton / The Puma Prensa)
By Nora Sitton, Staff Writer
When the month of January is coming around the corner, it starts to sound like a fresh start, but is that opportunity taken for granted? For most people, a new year symbolizes a fresh chance to become the ideal person they've always wanted to be, and somebody with the habits they've always wanted to acquire.
These massive changes in behaviors, habits, and rituals are oftentimes expected to come overnight. The completely unrealistic expectation that somebody can transform their entire lives in one night with nothing but motivation almost always ends in failure. When sophomore Ava Noel was asked if she typically meets her New Year’s resolutions, she stated that she “sticks with them for about a week or two but never the whole year, and they never become a real habit.” Only having optimism and not a set plan for the future won’t guarantee any results.
According to verywellmind, in the process of making a change, there are five stages in order to be successful: precontemplation (when you are becoming aware that there may be something to change), contemplation (thinking about making the change), preparation (you begin assembling a plan to make a change), action (making the change), and maintenance (when you determine how to maintain a change). It is simple enough to say that humans are not wired to make extraordinary sweeping changes in a short amount of time. Anytime something is shifted, it requires preparation and process.
If our modifications are solely built upon motivation, then what will happen when that temporary motivation perishes? Continuous motivation stems from seeing results; when a goal may take, for example, 20 days to see progress, it is possible that individuals’ brains could lose inspiration on day 19. When we haven’t proven to our brains that we are capable of showing up for ourselves and we spontaneously decide to commit to a goal, it can be very easy to give up in a short term window.
Due to unrealistic thought processes and other factors, over 90% of New Year’s resolutions are given up in the first few months (verywellmind). But the thought of failing, no matter how motivated you are in a singular moment, can feel very discouraging. However, failure is just a stepping stone toward progress. Sophomore Lielle Smallcomb relayed she thinks people don’t reach their goals because “they don’t have time or they end up setting [goals] too high.” This is why in order to succeed, we need to break it down. What may seem like one large and ambitious goal can usually be divided into many separate steps.
If you are able to break down an objective into small attainable goals that help you track your progress towards the larger goal, your chances of success are much higher because, as you complete each step, your brain acknowledges your triumphs and knows you are doing something right. This fulfillment then feeds into your stream of motivation, making the larger target more attainable. So when creating resolutions for the new year consider the ways you can frame these goals in order to have the highest probability of success!