It’s midnight  on the 1st of January. Couples are kissing, people are banging pots and pans outside and they all swear that this year they will do something new and good: like going to the gym, or eating healthier. Fast forward to next New Year’s and they say the same thing because they only got through the first month last year.

According to a Dec. 2019 article in  Forbes, the most common New Year’s resolutions of that year were improving finances, improving mental health, dieting and losing weight.

On Friday Jan. 5 The Hat Chat put out a poll and 94 of you responded. We got a diverse array of responses. Beyond the usual gym, eating healthier, and because of the student factor, being better at school, some stated that they would like to read more and have less screen time. Here are some of the responses:

• “I’d like to read more and do more art (spending time doing things that make me happy)”
• “I want to build better routines!”
• “I don’t want to be shy anymore.”
• “I need to get off my phone and I want to be more present.”

All of these are unique and good-spirited goals, but why do people seemingly not go through with their resolution? According to the Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business, only 9% of people succeed, with 43% giving up by the end of January. 

 There are actually many reasons for this, one of which is that many often think too big for their resolution and they are overwhelmed from it. Another reason is that some just set a new goal because it’s a new year and it’s a tradition, not because it’s a need. People often don’t even think of the obstacle behind the goal. In the same Hat Chat poll, we asked from a scale from 1 to 10 if participants are going to succeed with their resolution. The most common response was 8, but some other high ranking responses were 1 and 6. Possibly people go into it not thinking it will stick. Everything mentioned are reasons for why we don’t go through with the resolution we set at the beginning of the year.

So how do you complete A New Year’s Resolution? Here are a few good tips from NPR from Jan. 8 2024.

• Find someone ( A friend for example) that can do the goal with you. For example, if you want to go to the Gym, see when your friends go and then go with them.
• Be more optimistic with your goals. If you’re going in with the mindset that you’re going to fail, then you’re more likely to fail.
• Keep it small As stated before, most goals fail because they are too big. If it’s smaller, it has a better chance at succeeding.

In addition, be more optimistic about your resolution, go in with the mindset that you will succeed. It will take you far. If you have a goal, keep this advice in mind. Hopefully, by the end of this year, you can say, “Finally, a goal completed.” Best of luck to all that have a resolution, and may everyone have a Happy New Year.