New Year’s Resolutions that last all year

By Hannah Strasser

January 1, 12:01 AM: Millions of Americans are making vows to their selves to not eat chocolate, lose 15 lbs, don’t cut class, stop shopping, etc. Flash forward three weeks later and chocolate’s been eaten, pounds have been gained, class has been cut, and we all know there’s been shopping. New Year’s Resolutions are a great idea in theory, but the problem is making them work.

At the beginning of the year, everyone has high hopes in their resolutions. And for the first few weeks or maybe months, most people are pretty strict about sticking to their goals. However, as winter ends, it seems like so too does the desire to maintain these ambitions.

Heather Reeder, a sophomore at Missouri Western, tries to make resolutions each year with the hope that she’ll stick with the new one longer than last year’s.

“This year I am going to try to cut down on fast food and eat healthier.” Reeder said. “But after the first few months I always forget about the resolution.”

Reeder isn’t alone in her feelings of failure with New Year’s Resolutions. Every year these resolutions are made in high hopes of their effectiveness, and every year more than half of these are broken within weeks, or simply forgotten. So what’s the point of resolutions if we are making ones that set ourselves up for failure?

Resolutions need to be made that will inspire us to not break them. The best way to discover whether it’s a goal that is going to be maintained is to decide if it’s important enough to put the effort forth. Before committing to a resolution, ask these three questions:

1. Why should I follow through with this resolution?
2. What will this resolution change in my life?
3. How important is it to stick to this resolution?

After asking these questions it becomes apparent which resolutions will really impact our years, and lives. If the resolutions made aren’t something that is meaningful to our well-being or something we feel passionately about, it’s going to be a guaranteed failure.

Missouri Western junior Jesse Engelken vows that he won’t make resolutions simply to make a resolution, he only creates them if he believes in what he’s resolving to do.

“If you really want to change something about yourself or something in your life, you’ll stick to it until you’ve done what you wanted to do,” Engelken said.

So besides picking resolutions that are meaningful to their creator, the best way to ensure that a resolution will work is to create a realistic plan for carrying these out. If not cutting class is what you really think is an important resolution, which it should be, the best way to get yourself to class is to write down a plan of action. Give yourself a realistic bedtime and set back up alarms, etc.

Missouri Western senior Zach Kinkeade also says it’s a good idea to remind yourself every day of your resolution. “Write it down somewhere you’ll see it every day, so you won’t forget,” Kinkeade said.

Resolutions can be idealistic, but at the same time they need to not ask too much at one time. If eating fast food three times a day is your habit, come January 1 there is no realistic way to cut that habit cold turkey. However, vowing to cut down on fast food to a few times a week, or to completely cut it off gradually over months, those resolutions are admirable and much easier to achieve and stick to.