New Years is a time for celebration and an opportunity to look forward to new beginnings in the upcoming year. A common tradition during the New Years is resolutions. The personal commitment one makes to improve yourself at the beginning of each year. News Year’s resolutions are amazing, creating a detailed map for the pathway you want to take for your year.
Based on an article from the History Guild, the first people believed to have started making New Year’s resolutions or “pledges” were the Babylonians some 4,000 years ago. For the Babylonians, their resolutions often incorporated religious ideas, mythology, and other social aims of the time. Promising to pay debts, or pledging allegiance to the king were just some examples of what resolutions at the time meant for them. An important practice to ensure prosperity for the people.
Considering how long resolutions have existed, contradicting opinions on their actual effectiveness for people has been questioned the past few years.
A study from Drive Research reported that only 3 out of 10 Americans in 2024 reported making a New Year’s resolution. In addition, of that group, adults 18-29 years of age made up the majority of resolutions makers with 49% being within this age range.
So the question is: Why are so few people making new year’s resolutions in recent years?
A review made by Pew research states that of the 70% of Americans not making resolutions this year, 56% reported that their reason not for doing so was that they don’t like to make resolutions. Unfortunately, this viewpoint is often a result of passed resolution failures that discourage those from trying once more.”
Students and staff at HHS have very differing opinions when it comes to making New Year’s resolutions.
“I don’t like New Year’s resolutions because they really just are procrastination and a statement that you’re going to wait to do something you want to do instead of actually doing it,” Freshman Jordan Kempf said.
Freshman Lilliana Cave was also very honest in her attitude towards making New years resolutions this year.
“I never do New Year’s Resolutions because honestly I just don’t have time for it and they’re just stupid,” she said.
An article from Southern New Hampshire University touches on just some of the reasons that New Year’s resolutions seem to be failing. According to the Dean of social sciences at SNHU Dr. Thomas MacCarty, “Most people make resolutions with the best of intentions, but soon find it takes commitment, effort, true desire to change, and being personally accountable to stay course,” MacCarty said. “This can be a tall order for most,”
However, if one is aware of the way to effectively carry out resolutions, they can actually be a life-changing way to improve ourselves in the next year.
An article from Ohio state university states ways in which to have more effective New Year’s resolutions. The first of which is starting your goals at a time for needed change. A new year is an extremely convenient time for a reset and change in one’s life. Although, it is advised not to do it for the sake of tradition, but for the sake of change. A second method to a successful resolution is Expecting obstacles. Staying vigilant and aware can help you to make plans for mistakes and maintain motivation. Lastly, It is important to remain accountable with our goals. Goals should be for ourselves and not for the glamorous side of goal setting.
Assistant principle of HHS Elijah Phillips expressed is love for new years resolutions and the best way to constitute this personal plan.
“I like new years resolutions because I think self improvement is always a good thing regardless of the time of year and I think that having a specific starting point, you know January first, does make it easier to go into a new year with results,” Phillips said. “I think about the things that don’t add positivity to my life and I try to change them,”
New Year’s resolutions should be a pathway for making each and every year of your life, better and better. Planning ahead, setting realistic measurable goals, and creating a specific procedure could be just the changes you need to make in order to have the most successful New Year’s resolutions.
