Has anyone kept their New Year’s resolution?
New Year’s resolutions may be simple to write down but they’re hard to do!
February 21, 2020
It’s been a month since people made New Year’s resolutions. But every year, some of us are just unable to stick to our words.
A study by the University of Scranton found that 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail by February, and ultimately, only 8% of people will successfully accomplish their resolutions. Unsurprisingly, the most popular and least-fulfilled resolution is, by far, going to the gym and/or losing weight. According to the Washington Post, come January, of the 40% of Americans who make New Year’s resolutions, nearly half of them will aim to lose weight or get in shape.
“The most overrated New Year resolution is exercising and trying to lose weight. All people try to lose weight, but it always seems [like] they fall short or they never even get started,” said Nathan Fitch (‘21).
The short burst of motivation people feel the first few days after creating their resolution usually doesn’t last longer than a week, especially for prospective gym rats. The struggle of forming any new habit, coupled with the fact that most people don’t like to exercise, quickly deflates a person’s willpower.
While losing weight/getting in shape comes in second to saving money, it remains number one among a teenager demographic.
“Everyone says they’re going to do it but they don’t actually do it and follow through,” said Mihika Srivastava (‘21).
The list of failed resolutions doesn’t end there. Even if things like saving more money, being more organized, and reading more are all valid resolutions and completely possible to implement in the coming year, all of them are almost never attained. But why? And how are we to get past this?
“I think [that] expectations are way too high and unrealistic compared to [people’s] previous lifestyles. It’s important to take baby steps to the goals that you want to achieve and not make a big jump for a long period of time,” said Sophia Choi (‘21).
What’s essential to keeping a New Year’s resolution, especially one that can get as vague as “going to the gym,” is to “really care about your goal [and] have a concrete goal that you can actually measure,” said Josh Freeman (‘21).
Going to the gym and/or losing weight may be valid New Year’s resolutions. But the question of how well they truly work in the reality of people’s everyday lives makes it, in our opinion, the most overrated New Year’s resolution on the list.
