As people celebrate the fresh start of a new year, many reflect upon their blunders in 2022 and aspire to have a more fulfilling 2023. As such, many people have begun to set their New Year’s resolutions: goals they hope to accomplish in the following year. However, these resolutions are a faulty concept; oftentimes, they set you up for failure.
According to a 2016 study, “Of the 41% of Americans who make New Year’s resolutions, by the end of the year, only 9% feel they are successful in keeping them.” Why is this?
There is absolutely nothing wrong with setting goals to improve oneself; however, one significant factor in achieving any goal is to create a detailed plan to guide you towards success. Since most of the goals set at New Year’s are aimed towards self-improvement or eradicating a bad habit, the process of achievement is usually uncomfortable. To ensure that you stick to the goal, it is important to set many small and manageable, short-term goals instead of a few ambitious long-term ones. New Year’s resolutions contradict this strategy and instead evoke the mentality of, “I need to set a big goal and accomplish it overnight.”
For example, you may want to start working out more. You go to the gym on January 1 and do a high-intensity workout that leaves you feeling good. You continue with this endeavor for a few days, chasing the dopamine high of the first couple of workouts; after a few weeks, when the novelty wears off, you abandon the task. In this example, the New Year’s resolution provided initial adrenaline, but the goal was ultimately unsuccessful because it was not process-oriented and had a narrow focus.
Another reason New Year’s resolutions fail is because they have morphed into a social norm instead of an opportunity for self-reflection. When people look around themselves and see their friends and family setting lofty goals, they want to do the same. The social pressure leads people to set artificial and unrealistic goals without a proper reason, which, in turn, leads to failure. Furthermore, if you set a big goal and have high hopes, which you do not fulfill, tremendous amounts of guilt may demoralize you from pursuing growth in the future.
This also ties into the problematic idea of telling yourself that you need to wait until New Year’s comes around to make changes in your life. Improving yourself and having goals is a daily habit that you should always commit to — not only at the beginning of a year.
I agree with the ideology behind New Year’s resolutions which is simply to set goals to improve oneself. However, this tradition has many flaws: it isn’t process-oriented, creates unnecessary social pressure and anxiety, and gives people an excuse to procrastinate the self-care and self-improvement they should be working towards every day of the year.
