Jan. 19, 2024
By Angelina Dominguez
Staff Writer
Have you ever accomplished something that seemed impossible at first? New Year’s resolutions help people do just that.
New Year’s resolutions provide clarity. They can change people’s lives for the better by increasing their self-esteem and self-worth. Humans are at their best when they have a goal to reach, and setting a New Year’s resolution gives people the push they need to make long-term improvements in their lives.
In a survey of 1,005 Americans conducted by the media company Forbes Health and the market research agency OnePoll, 86% of respondents said their New Year’s resolution will have a positive impact beyond 2024. The survey found that the most popular resolution this year is improved fitness followed by improved finances, improved mental health, weight loss and improved diet.
The more a person can picture what it will feel like to accomplish their goal, the more likely they will be to attain it.
According to a 2020 survey conducted by the international online research data and analytics technology group YouGov, 35% of people managed to stick to all of their New Year’s resolutions, while 49% managed to keep some but not all of them. Only 16% reported that they did not keep any of their resolutions. Even though some fall short of meeting their goals, these statistics reflect that most people make a positive change in their lives as a result of their New Year’s resolutions.
Those who do not keep their New Year’s resolutions may be thinking too big, failing to set milestones along the way or not focusing on the “why” that should be motivating them. Motivation is the drive that leads people to take action toward a goal. It keeps them moving forward, even when they might not want to.
When people have a goal, they tend to increase the amount of time and effort they spend on an activity and develop effective strategies to achieve that goal. Tracking personal progress and celebrating small successes along the way allows people to create a vision for their futures.
When working toward a resolution, people should concentrate on the future they want and imagine an emotion attached to the outcome. The more a person can picture what it will feel like to accomplish their goal, the more likely they will be to attain it.
Additionally, people can increase the likelihood of reaching their New Year’s resolutions by gaining inspiration from other people’s success stories. The decisions and actions they took to achieve their desired outcomes can inform others about productive strategies and approaches.
Even if people fall short of accomplishing their New Year’s resolutions, it is still worth setting such goals because experiences with failure are opportunities to learn and grow. People can revise their resolutions to be more attainable or start brainstorming resolutions for the next year.
There is no better time to set goals than at the beginning of a new year because it signifies a fresh start.
Those who are working towards meeting their New Year’s resolutions should be commended, and for those who have not set one yet, it is not too late to create one. 2024 has just begun, and the possibilities for self-improvement are infinite.
