Do You Make New Year’s Resolutions?

    You may have heard about, or seen yourself, the annual overwhelming presence of people at the gym in early January, in hopes of meeting their New Year's resolution. If you have found yourself at the gym for the first time in months on January 1st, you are not alone. The IHRSA says that "12% of all gym memberships happen in January" (Walker). Every year, many people make New Year's resolutions, and every year, many do not stick to them. Have you ever wondered what the average success rate for these resolutions may look like if it started in December? I myself have set New Year's resolutions and wondered this very thing. Why do New Year's resolutions seem to always fail? Is there a reason beyond the claim that "people are lazy"? 

    One of the main reasons that New Year's resolutions fail is because of social pressure. Many people choose to make a New Year's resolution for themselves because everyone else seems to be. In a survey taken by 1,005 adults, it was found that "29% say they feel pressured to set a new year’s resolution"(Davis). By being pressured into "bettering yourself", the motivation behind this goal is likely not coming from the person setting the goal. Therefore, when February comes rolling through, the resolution craze has worn off, leaving the goal setter as the only one to truly motivate themselves to continue because the pressure to set a resolution is now gone, in fact, the new trend is failing. This is why resolutions set by people who feel pressured by the annual tradition commonly fail. If the end result is not something that you are striving for, you will not hold yourself accountable.  Rook Williams says that the flaw in many goals is that "'there's rarely enough thought put into the approach'" (Haworth). Without careful consideration about resolutions, the "failure rate for New Year's resolutions is said to be an estimated 80% with most people losing their resolve and motivation just weeks later in mid-February" (Haworth). In other words, when resolutions based upon the stereotype of the "tradition" or "trend" are made without much contemplation or motivation, they will likely fail within weeks. 

    To build on the idea that people who are pressured into resolutions don't hold themselves accountable, they also will not in the future. Many people make a New Year's resolution simply to make one, and they fail. This "failure" is discouraging, and likely will not encourage the reattempting of their goal until the next New Year. This is the trap that many resolution setters fall into; they set a resolution because everyone else is, and they like the concept. By not committing and taking initiative to make changes in their lives, this trap ends in failure. A year from this failure will come January 1st, when the resolution trend is back. It is a common practice for past failed resolution culprits to set another "nothing goal", yet tell themselves that this year will be different. When given a "blank slate", many people see an opportunity of "aspiring to a goal and following through on it" to feel a "sense of control" (Piedmont). The positive impact of New Year's resolutions can be major, but when repeatedly failed, the feeling of failure can be a great mental burden. When failing their goal to gain a sense of control, they instead lose that control which can result in the lowering of internal self value. To have a goal and a plan to "fix" your life, and then to fail, can make it seem like your life is "unfixable", that you will never reach your goals, and can be mentally taxing in a way that goal setters hadn't noticed before New Years. Reattempting the same failed resolution over and over again can also make it more difficult to eventually overcome all of the previous habits and succeed in the resolution.   

    January, trends, and traditions puts millions of people under pressure to set unreasonable, unachievable goals for themselves. Is there a way to remove this pressure for a better success rate? By starting to go to the gym in March, you essentially avoid all three of these negative aspects. Firstly, the date. By creating new habits in March for example, you are on a completely different timeline than those who will wait until January 1st. When 80% of people are failing their resolutions in February, you are cruising through April using the momentum you have gained to continue on with your goal. Secondly, the aspect of social pressure. By setting a resolution in March and sticking to it, the motivation to simply start and not wait another year is rooted from you, not the societal pressure. Rather than depending on the support of others who are working alongside with you, you can grow as an individual. This way, no matter what happens along the road, individually you can remain strong in your routines, habits, and growth. Thirdly, the tradition of setting New Year's resolutions typically comes with the tradition of failing. By trying to "change your life" starting in January, you may feel a very strong pressure to see progress by the end of the year. Even worse, the idea that you want to maintain these habits forever can seem extremely daunting. This concept of notable progress is not as present in months outside of January because you started without the pre-made annual timeline set in your mind. By choosing a random month to start working on yourself, you are focused upon the present, not the future.

- Julia 

Works Cited

Walker, Author: Austin. “Amid New Year's Resolutions, Local Gym Preps for a Boom in New Memberships.” Wcnc.com, 2 Jan. 2023, https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/local/new-years-gym-membership-boom/275-37c36d0a-dc49-4b62-a4a2-1816555942cd.

Davis, Sarah. “New Year's Resolutions Statistics 2023.” Forbes Health, Edited by Alena Hall, Forbes Magazine, 11 Jan. 2023, https://www.forbes.com/health/mind/new-years-resolutions-statistics/#:~:text=The%20aforementioned%202020%20New%20Plate,lasting%20less%20than%20a%20month.

Haworth, Jon. “Struggling to Keep Your New Year's Resolutions? Here's How To Keep Yourself on Track.” ABC News, ABC News Network, 7 Jan. 2023, https://abcnews.go.com/US/struggling-new-years-resolutions-track/story?id=96173041#:~:text=The%20failure%20rate%20for%20New,U.S%20News%20and%20World%20Report.

“Why Do People Make New Year’s Resolutions?” Piedmont Healthcare, Piedmont, 2023, https://www.piedmont.org/living-better/why-do-people-make-new-years-resolutions#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20New%20Year%20offers%20a,what's%20happening%20in%20my%20life.%E2%80%9D.

“Times Square 2023 Ball Drop.” The Economic Times, Et Spotlight Special, 30 Dec. 2022, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/new-years-eve-different-ways-to-watch-times-square-ball-drop/articleshow/96631028.cms. Accessed 6 Mar. 2023.