The harsh reality is that many New Year’s resolutions fail, so is making resolutions even worth it? Forbes Health found that in the United States, around 38% of adults make New Year’s resolutions. Out of the 38%, only 9% of these adults actually achieve their goals. A whopping 36% of these people cannot even make it through the first week of fulfilling these resolutions.
Why are New Year’s resolutions so likely to fail? Many failed resolutions come down to one thing: setting unattainable goals. Many people do not put any effort into fulfilling these commitments, but they then expect some sort of change from this lack of effort which is unrealistic. People can make goals anytime of the year and begin a fresh start, but if they are unwilling to put in the work, goals are just as likely to fail as a New Year’s resolution.
New Year’s resolutions are a false fresh start when many people will most likely procrastinate, sometimes not even attempting to change any habits to achieve these goals. When setting goals, it does not have to be on New Year’s Eve; it can be any time of the year if those goals are realistic and manageable. New Year’s resolutions are made to set people up for failure because having massive goals with no accountability is a recipe for disaster.
The lack of accountability causes many people begin to struggle. They become incredibly discouraged to the point where they stop even trying to achieve these goals. Sometimes people do not even attempt to even start to achieve this resolution. If someone is on a self-improvement journey or wants to change their lives in some way, they will often need to make smaller goals on their way to achieving their ultimate goal, taking a certain amount of time daily dedicated to this goal.
Many people need accountability when achieving goals. It may help to set goals with a friend or partner so that they do not feel alone. Many people thrive in achieving goals with a friend to make self-improvement more fun. When creating goals, it is often best to have some sort of plan or timeline, so it does not become overwhelming trying to achieve these specific goals.
Goals are an important part of succeeding in life. Having a hopeful outlook towards the new year is a good mindset with which to start off the year. To obtain goals, it is essential to be dedicated to putting in the work and being able to sacrifice for these goals. Lacking follow through with these resolutions makes it practically useless to even create a resolution because of the odds of failing.
When setting new goals and trying new things in life many people make excuses like “I will start tomorrow” or “I’ll try again next week.” This mindset causes many to further procrastinate. To spark an actual change in life, it can start any day of the year if you are driven and committed to achieving this goal.
New Year’s resolutions are useless, especially looking at the statistics which are highly against even making resolutions. To be able to achieve this year’s resolutions, people should try to use a new outlook of being proactive and realistic, or they might as well not even bother with this illogical holiday tradition. – Ella Dodds