New Year’s Resolutions: Why Most of Them Fail
At the start of every year, it is a tradition for many people to create a “New Year’s Resolution.” These resolutions are goals a specific person may have for the new year. This signifies self-reflection for the past year. It allows you to see where you fell short in the previous year, so you can improve on that the next year.
It’d be nice to say that everybody follows through with their New Year’s Resolution, but this is far from the truth. According to data from driveresearch.com, only 9% of Americans followed through with their resolutions in 2024.
You don’t even need the statistics to prove it; all you have to do is look around. Every year, all people talk about is how they are going to change in the New Year, hence the phrase “New Year, new me”. However, many people forget about their resolutions and that they want to change themselves by the time February comes around.
The weird thing about this, though, is that a lot of people know that many New Year’s Resolutions will fail when they make them; however, they are still confident that they will achieve their goals. While it is good to have confidence in yourself, just being confident isn’t enough without effort.
“In 2026, I want to be a YouTube and get 1000 subscribers on my YouTube channel, Isaiah 360vlogs. There, I post my daily life and football videos. I also want to get closer to God. I’m 80% sure I’m getting a thousand by the end of the year,” said freshman Isaiah Dartilus when asked about his New Year’s goals.
Isaiah has already started to post seven videos on his YouTube channel this year. Judging by the work he has put in so far, it seems very possible that he’ll be one of the few people who will actually achieve their goal.
His resolution is also very different from others. Most people either want to get healthier, stronger, or richer. These are the resolutions that sadly won’t make it long as the year progresses, since people usually don’t plan out these goals and lose motivation.
“I will work out more and eat healthier in order to look better and feel better…I’m going to accomplish this 100%,” said sophomore Emmanuel Perez. Emmanuel’s resolution is one that’s been heard several times before and, unfortunately, often goes nowhere. However, there was one student who was completely honest with his answer.
“I really don’t have a New Year’s Resolution, but if I had to give an answer, it would probably be to become a better person, to get my grades up, and live a healthier lifestyle,” was the answer sophomore Keyon Jackson gave.
This is why most resolutions don’t make it through the entire year. When the New Year comes around, people just create a new goal because it’s a tradition and they feel like they have to, not because there is something they actually want to achieve in the New Year.
This is why many people just say the basic answer of wanting to be a better person all around, even though this goal really doesn’t have measurable results. When people really take the time to reflect on the year, they’ll be able to create a realistic, genuine New Year’s Resolution and will be able to actually achieve it.
