A New Years Resolution
New Years, as the name suggests, always brings new beginnings and old traditions. As we move into 2024, an old tradition that won’t be changing is the need for New Year’s resolutions. People set them as a way of refreshing and re-evaluating goals as they transition from one year to the next, but this isn’t always necessarily a success. According to Forbes Magazine, about 55% of New Year's resolutions fail before three months. But, this doesn’t have to be the case for you! If you plan on setting a New Year’s resolution, here is an idea to make it easier to start.
Going into 2024, people in the US across all ages prioritize improving fitness, finances, and mental health above all else. However, it is better if your goal is not so broad, because according to standard goal setting methods, such as the acronym SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound), goals are more likely to succeed when they are specific instead of being set with an unrealistic standard for yourself. If you make unrealistic goals, you are more likely to end up getting tired of it, being upset by it, and dropping it all together. For example, instead of setting a broad goal, like “I want to improve my math grade a lot”, you could write a SMART goal such as “ I would like to improve my math grade by 10% by the next report card”.
In my opinion, some of the best goals to set are ones that will benefit you long-term and that are action-based. This might be striving to do your homework at more productive times of the day instead of staying up all night working on it, or studying for quizzes and tests more frequently. At the end of the day, it’s all about putting yourself first and really evaluating what means the most to you. If that’s schoolwork, or an extracurricular activity you might have, or family and friends, it’s all up to you - however, it’s also important to have realistic priorities for yourself and to keep up with any existing goals that you have before starting new ones.
Sources Cited: “New Year’s Resolutions Statistics 2023.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 9 Mar. 2023, www.forbes.com/health/mind/new-years-resolutions-statistics/. Accessed 30 Nov. 2023.
