Does ‘New Year’ really mean new you?

By Trystan Williams
January 27, 2014

   About 4,000 years ago, the idea of New Year’s resolutions evolved in ancient Mesopotamia, according to Gulf News. Rome was also involved in the idea to have goals for the new year with Julius Ceasar; he wanted to honor a supernatural being (a deity) and that is where January got its name from (Janus).

  With the New Year just passing, it is hard not to have a resolution, something you might want to change this year compared to last.

  It could be an idea such as eating healthier, losing weight, or exercising more. Although, high-school students do not always have the same resolutions as adults.

Image obtained from Wikimedia. So many people want to start eating healthy and exercising with the New Year, but many people have a hard time resisting junk food.

  According to International College Counselors, popular resolutions for students involve getting better grades in school, stopping procrastination, and taking tests like the SATs early; doing this would get rid of a lot of stress that comes throughout high school. This is much different from adult resolutions, the list USA.gov released a list  including topics such as getting a better job, saving money, and quitting smoking.

  Static Brain released statistics relating to resolutions and how long they are kept. According to the website, about 45% of people make resolutions while only about 8% succeed.

  So what can people take out of resolutions? That they are a waste of time?

  75% of people maintain their resolution for the first two weeks, while 71% of people maintain it for more than two weeks, but less than a month. Once people get into one month, the percentages drop to 64% and once the person gets to six months, only 46% of resolutions are kept. Between the six month and one year mark, percentages drop drastically, by 38%.

  Resolutions accomplish nothing. It is just setting unrealistic goals hoping to make the new year ‘better than the last’, but if someone wanted to change, why would they not want to do it in the middle of the year? What triggers the New Year with far stretched wishes?

  All in all, most people are not successful with resolutions; however, some are and developing them, becoming a tradition for more than half the world population.