Goals and resolutions are crucial for personal growth and achievement. They allow us to truly focus and commit to our aspirations, giving us a sense of direction and purpose. As the end of the year is nearing, everyone is beginning to look back on their achievements and what they hoped to accomplish this past year. To reflect on the past, we all refer to our New Year’s resolutions, a time honored tradition, giving people an opportunity to reflect and plan on the past year.
The purpose of making New Year’s resolutions is different for everyone. Some may want to focus on personal or spiritual improvement, while others may want to emphasize external achievements, such as receiving a certain award. Many people create lists with extravagant goals, but they end up getting put off until the end of the year. Trying to complete such an extensive list in a month or two, which is meant to be done over the course of a full year, is impossible. This is why New Year’s resolutions are very ineffective, as growth and change takes time— it can’t be done in such a short period of time.
There are multiple reasons for why New Year’s resolutions are so hard to complete for some people. One key problem people have is the intent behind their actions, because sticking to a New Year’s resolution requires commitment, resolve and dedication. Oftentimes, a person may attempt to stay true to their resolution, but they lack discipline so it causes them to lose touch with their goals.
“New Year’s resolutions are effective for a short period of time, unless you really make a plan out of it,” Lambert senior Vaibhavee Shirkhedkar noted. “Most people don’t; They just do it for the sake of doing it, which is why it never really ends up working out.”
For most people, when creating a New Year’s resolution, there is a subconscious thought that it’s really optional. New Year’s resolutions are a very old tradition which are often created with no meaning or intent behind the objectives. Therefore, if there is no real purpose for change then a person will not be motivated to reform. Because of this thought that completing a resolution is technically optional, many people really don’t fulfill them. As a result, the effectiveness of a New Year’s resolution lowers significantly, since they are created without meaning. If a person is setting a list of goals, it should be because they are determined to change.
Alternatively, there are many ways a person can be motivated to fulfill their plans. Social media, for example, can be used to help drive a person to commit to their goals. When other people are posting about completing things on their New Year’s resolutions, the viewers are motivated to do so as well. When they see posts that show things such as progress updates, they are inspired to do things for themselves.
“Seeing people that are living your goals is a good way to encourage yourself to do the same,” Shirkhedkar stated.
While there may be some downsides to social media, it can be very beneficial in activating a desire to succeed. Seeing others prosper empowers viewers to take action, reminding them that their resolutions can be achieved.
There are also many other methods, instead of a New Year’s resolution, that people can use to achieve everything they plan for. One way to do this is to create short-term goals throughout the year. Because New Year’s resolutions are very general and unplanned lists, it is difficult to actually complete them. Attempting to achieve bigger and broader ambitions, such as in a resolution, is much harder than focusing on one small objective at a time. Instead, people should create planned, short term goals, which are easier to complete. Additionally, studies have shown that writing down resolutions helps keep a person accountable. Keeping a physical copy of what one aspires to achieve will allow them to stay focused and committed to your dreams.
The reason behind creating a New Year’s resolution is for self improvement, but that outcome is often not achieved due to their ineffectiveness.Short term goals are far better, providing people with a real opportunity to achieve the ultimate goal of becoming a better version of themselves.
