Every year on Dec. 31, or even before, most people think of a goal they will take with them into the new year, known as a New Year’s resolution.
The question is, do these New Year’s resolutions actually work?
It all depends on the person and how driven they are. You can say you’re going to go to the gym more, or that you will learn new recipes to enhance your cooking, or that you will stop overspending to actually reach your goal of saving money.
However, how many people actually stick with it? As an optimist, I would like to say that most people stick with it. But, according to Drive Research, 92% of adults do not stick to their resolution or follow through.
Drive Research also reports that 23% of adults put an end to their New Year’s goals by the end of the first week of January.
These numbers raise the question of whether the problem lies within the actual resolution or if people are placing way too much pressure on themselves to transform or shift parts of their lifestyles so abruptly.
However, I feel incredibly challenged to defy these numbers and actually make a resolution that I consider realistic and know that I can stick to. Maybe I feel so challenged because I always do my best to look at the glass half full in most situations. Those statistics are quite discouraging, and I want to change them.
New Year’s resolutions allow room to push yourself but give yourself adequate space to pause, reflect and commit to change.
Forbes reports, “The Forbes Health/One Poll survey found that the average resolution lasts just 3.74 months. Only 8% of respondents tend to stick with their goals for one month, while 22% last two months, 22% last three months, and 13% last four months.”
It is quite unfortunate that these resolutions do not guarantee long-term change, but commitment can be incredibly hard sometimes. Unforeseen circumstances come up where people may not be able to follow through, and it is important that if that does happen to you, you do not lose yourself in the process; be easy on yourself and understand that things do happen, and you are not a failure.
I believe that if people put ideas of perfection aside and shift their focus to progress that they can maintain at a steady rate, success rates on New Year’s resolutions may increase.
Ultimately, I believe that New Year’s resolutions do work. The world could definitely benefit from the more driven each individual becomes, and setting maintainable goals, like a New Year’s resolution, could be a good start to a better future. New Year’s resolutions do not necessarily need to be complicated and it would be a great idea to start with something small.
Ali Barretta can be contacted at
abarretta@kscequinox.com
