2008 Woodie Awards
New Year's resolutions usually left unfulfilled
By Jessica Rupell
Rocket Focus Editor
Issue date: 1/20/06 Section: Opinion
Although I thoroughly looked forward to saying goodbye to 2005 and hello to a brand spanking New Year of 2006, I absolutely hate the long standing tradition of the "New Years resolution". It seems as though to many, the only time to worry about getting back into shape and losing weight, managing their money, having stronger relationships, or quitting smoking is during the month of January. And, in fact, I find it quite sickening.
First of all, many people set completely unrealistic resolutions. Saying you will exercise for two hours a day, seven days a week may sound nice, but to those who aren't involved in a team sport and who may not have exercised in a while, this is totally impractical. Saying you will never smoke another cigarette and that this is the year you will quit forever would be awesome - but quitting cold turkey is difficult on its own, without it even being given the New Year's resolution title. Why make a promise you know you can't keep?
I believe that instead of making such a proclamation when the ball drops, it would just be easier to set personal goals throughout the course of the year, instead of giving it the doomed title of a "New Year's resolution". Believe it or not, exercising for a month may help you to shed a few pounds, but it certainly does not accomplish the goal of getting you back into shape. To me, a New Year's resolution represents something you wish to change for the long term, and so one month of exercise becomes merely a short-lived start - especially since the months following will probably leave you at the weight you were before the New Year, or possibly even heavier if you retreat back to your old habits.
Of course, weight loss is not the only resolution that frequently leads to failure; change this paragraph slightly and it could easily describe how resolutions to quit smoking and save more money can - and often, do - fail as well.
Therefore, I will make a few suggestions to this little problem of ours. First of all, although I personally do not care for New Year's resolutions, they are not all terrible. If kept simple and reasonable, they can be successful. For example, I've had friends make resolutions to just get through the semester with a 3.0 GPA. With the difficult and time consuming courses that certainly exist on this and many other campuses, it may be very unreasonable to state that you wish to get a 4.0 GPA with the workload you are carrying. However, in staying on top of the homework and readings, it is very possible to achieve the desired 3.0 GPA. And yes, when someone actually fulfills a New Year's resolution, it really is a big deal because of how seldom it happens.
On the other hand, if you are like me and simply do not like New Year's resolutions, my suggestion would be to simply set short term goals for yourself, and achieve the long term goal in smaller chunks. Whether they are daily, weekly, or monthly, setting short term goals is often a much more successful endeavor for people who have difficulty with such long term oriented goals. Here, not only are you ultimately completing whatever goal you wanted to, but you aren't simply failing to achieve another lost-cause "New Year's resolution". Whatever you decide to do, good luck and best wishes for a wonderful start to the year 2006.
First of all, many people set completely unrealistic resolutions. Saying you will exercise for two hours a day, seven days a week may sound nice, but to those who aren't involved in a team sport and who may not have exercised in a while, this is totally impractical. Saying you will never smoke another cigarette and that this is the year you will quit forever would be awesome - but quitting cold turkey is difficult on its own, without it even being given the New Year's resolution title. Why make a promise you know you can't keep?
I believe that instead of making such a proclamation when the ball drops, it would just be easier to set personal goals throughout the course of the year, instead of giving it the doomed title of a "New Year's resolution". Believe it or not, exercising for a month may help you to shed a few pounds, but it certainly does not accomplish the goal of getting you back into shape. To me, a New Year's resolution represents something you wish to change for the long term, and so one month of exercise becomes merely a short-lived start - especially since the months following will probably leave you at the weight you were before the New Year, or possibly even heavier if you retreat back to your old habits.
Of course, weight loss is not the only resolution that frequently leads to failure; change this paragraph slightly and it could easily describe how resolutions to quit smoking and save more money can - and often, do - fail as well.
Therefore, I will make a few suggestions to this little problem of ours. First of all, although I personally do not care for New Year's resolutions, they are not all terrible. If kept simple and reasonable, they can be successful. For example, I've had friends make resolutions to just get through the semester with a 3.0 GPA. With the difficult and time consuming courses that certainly exist on this and many other campuses, it may be very unreasonable to state that you wish to get a 4.0 GPA with the workload you are carrying. However, in staying on top of the homework and readings, it is very possible to achieve the desired 3.0 GPA. And yes, when someone actually fulfills a New Year's resolution, it really is a big deal because of how seldom it happens.
On the other hand, if you are like me and simply do not like New Year's resolutions, my suggestion would be to simply set short term goals for yourself, and achieve the long term goal in smaller chunks. Whether they are daily, weekly, or monthly, setting short term goals is often a much more successful endeavor for people who have difficulty with such long term oriented goals. Here, not only are you ultimately completing whatever goal you wanted to, but you aren't simply failing to achieve another lost-cause "New Year's resolution". Whatever you decide to do, good luck and best wishes for a wonderful start to the year 2006.
