by Annabella Zhang and Abigail Chang

“New year, new me” is a phrase commonly tossed around this time of year, used to connote the goal of starting a new chapter in one’s life. However, more often than not these days; this phrase is used ironically, referencing the all-too-common occurrence of New Year’s resolutions being disregarded or simply forgotten. This brings up the question of the relevance of New Year’s resolutions. Are they really all that worth keeping? What is it like to actually complete a resolution? And what are some ways to ensure a resolution is completed?  

Right off the bat, I’d like to admit that I have never completed a New Year’s resolution. In fact, I’ve never gone out of my way to make thoughtful resolutions, and maybe that’s a big part of why I never seem to complete them. My “resolutions” come in spontaneous fragments of thought during New Year’s Eve, when I simply chuckle to myself and think how great it would be if I actually completed any of them. Things ranging from the impossible such as “read 200 books” to the absurd, such as “do well in math”, have all been past resolutions of mine. Reflecting back now, I realize my biggest issues leading to my inability of completing resolutions is that I don’t make an effort to remember them, and I’ve never had a good reason for making resolutions. I never write my resolutions down, instead choosing to trust my fickle memory in being able to remind me. I don’t think back to my resolutions because the only time the topic of resolutions ever crosses my mind, is when it’s next year and time to make new ones! Building on that, I’ve also never considered why I’m making resolutions in the first place. Of course, although the overall “betterment” of oneself is a pretty universal reason, it’s shallow and lacking nuance. As the old saying goes “if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.” So instead of setting vague resolutions to improve the overall condition of life, why not target specific areas?  

I don’t believe I’m particularly qualified to give advice on reasons and ways to make/keep resolutions, so I went ahead and spoke to some friends of mine who have this habit. One said that she keeps a visual poster stuck up on her wall to always remind herself of her resolutions, and dispelled some myths revolving around keeping resolutions. She mentioned two types of resolutions, one having to do with completing an event or carrying out a task, and another being adopting a habit–which is more difficult than the former. More often than not, the ones revolving around adopting a habit take more than a year to complete, sometimes even several, and I believe it’s important to clear the air involving this realm of resolutions. Despite the name “New Year’s resolutions” implying that these resolutions need to be completed in exactly one year, it is completely reasonable that some resolutions simply take longer than that. Just because a resolution is not fulfilled in a year’s time, does not mean you have failed. This misconception around there being a time cap for goals leads to many abandoning their more difficult resolutions after a years’ time, when in fact if just kept for a while longer; may have been achieved.  

Following up on my point of having resolutions that target a specific area, a friend of mine, who’s an exceptional athlete, directs all her effort into improving herself in her field. Despite the need to excel in her field pushing her and motivating her, she states that her determination is also because her sport is “something [she] really care[s] for and [is] willing to put in the effort for.” This shows that a main driving factor to motivate yourself needs to be a passion or a drive to improve. The sheer fact that not working and building on herself up on her field means falling behind, is enough motivation to keep her going. So seeing the experiences of resolution veterans, I believe the main takeaway on the topic of resolutions is that they are insanely personal. The same goal applying to two people does not mean they have the same ways of approaching it. The time needed to complete different resolutions also vary greatly. Setting the uniform time of one year of every resolution is not a very smart and effective choice. Bottom line–explore resolutions, don’t go for clichés such as “lose weight” or “get A’s in every class”. Instead, have trial resolutions, personalize them as the year goes on, and don’t lose courage just because a resolution seems out of reach. Remember that resolutions are an individual journey, and not keeping in pace with others is completely expected.