Stepping into 2024, millions of people around the world continue an ancient tradition: setting goals for themselves to improve their bodies, minds or relationships. This New Year’s tradition, started by the Babylonians over 4,000 years ago, has become a staple of global culture. With resolutions ranging from healthy eating habits to daily journaling, people wake up on January 1 feeling confident that they can instantly improve their lifestyle.
The first day of a new year generally acts as a reset button for society. People switch out their calendars and planners, thus refreshing their minds in preparation for achieving life-changing goals. New Year’s resolutions, however, have gained a notorious reputation for their seemingly impossible retention. The Ohio State University employee Richard Batts found that only 9% of Americans follow through with their New Year’s resolutions—43% of that group fail by the end of January. With such a profounding rate of failure, psychologists have recently broken down the underlying factors behind failed resolutions.
While January 1 may reset the calendar year, the tendency to use this date as a checkpoint for change likely hinders the ability to carry out major goals. Batts found that people create New Year’s resolutions January 1 only because of conformity and societal norms, rather than actual timeliness and necessity. People may find greater success setting personal goals at a time when they feel able and prepared, rather than the date set by tradition.
“I can’t imagine [resolutions] work for a lot of people because of a motivation issue. A lot of people just don’t have the motivation. If you [set a goal] on your own time, it’s on your command and you just feel like you have to commit to it, rather than thinking ‘Oh I have to get a new year’s resolution going I have to think of something to do… When I set a goal I do better in the summer or fall,” senior James Greer said.
Alongside the obsession with tradition comes the overwhelming pressure associated with major shifts in habits. For example, completely changing one’s diet from a sugar-filled unhealthy one to cutting out sugars and fats entirely would create a mountainous journey for the next 365 days. Psychologists recommend selecting a minor change. Rather than setting a goal to lift at the gym every day, starting at two to three days per week will create a reasonable and attainable goal. Also, constructing on top of an already healthy habit will motivate a progression. Rather than starting from scratch, beginning the new year with an already daily or weekly habit can improve your commitment to an activity.
“You must attach the new action to a previous habit. Figure out a habit you already have that is well established, for example, if you already go for a brisk walk 3 times a week, then adding 10 more minutes to the existing walk connects the new habit to an existing one. The existing habit ‘Go for a walk’ now becomes the ‘cue’ for the new habit: ‘Walk 10 more minutes.’ Your new ‘stimulus-response’ is Go For Walk (Stimulus) followed by ‘Add 10 minutes,’” psychologist Doctor Susan Weinschenk said.
While New Year’s resolutions remain a dwindling symbolic tradition, following the advice from psychological experts will hopefully cure the seemingly cursed goals. There comes no need to quit on self-improvement, but a slight shift in the way people carry out resolutions can drastically improve retention for the new year. Hopefully, the remainder of 2024 will challenge the new year status quo.
