New Year’s Resolutions: Empty promises rarely fulfilled

It’s the same situation every year. When Jan. 1 rolls around, approximately 45 percent of Americans make a New Year’s resolution, according to The Oregonian. However, these goals are not as useful and necessary as they seem. In fact, they are pointless.

At first glance, people’s resolutions seem like attainable possibilities, and in the first few days after the new year, morale is high and self-doubt is low. But as the weeks and months slip by, people’s wills and optimism slowly diminish until they can hardly even remember what their resolutions were anymore.

According to Statistic Brain, 75 percent of people maintain these promises through the first week after Jan. 1, 64 percent maintain it after one month and 46 percent make it past six  months. In total, only a measly 8 percent succeed in completing their resolutions.

New Year’s resolutions are not often completed because these resolutions are too broad or impractical. For example, it is extremely difficult for one to set a due date for falling in love. The resolutions “enjoy life to the fullest” or “help others in their dreams,” which both rank in the top ten resolutions outlined by Statistic Brain, are equally broad.

According to the New York Times, the body actually works against one of the most common resolutions: losing weight. Social scientists have conducted studies which show that willpower is connected to the amount of glucose in one’s bloodstream; eating less food both decreases a person’s glucose and willpower.

Because of these negative effects, losing weight is a difficult goal to accomplish. While it is possible to lose weight, one must have the right mindset and plan, which cannot be attained by a mere New Year’s resolution.

Most resolutions involve making a dramatic change to one’s schedule. However, this sort of change is often difficult to carry out. People find comfort in routine, which is why habits are easy to acquire and hard to break. Consequently, when people attempt to get rid of their bad habits or begin more positive ones, they find it much more challenging than they originally expected.

According to NASA, it takes 30 to 60 days to retrain the brain when changing one’s habits. Most people do not have the patience to dedicate themselves to an endeavor like this for such a long period of time.

In fact, making these resolutions can often have the reverse effect that one would anticipate. When people do not meet their goals quickly and easily, they begin to berate themselves. Not completing a goal can be demotivating to livelihood and spirit.

To save themselves from a world of disappointment and disgrace, people should instead make smaller, more attainable goals year round rather than unrealistic ones once a year. They should stop obsessing over the future and start focusing on reasonable changes they can make in the present. After all, life is better when lived in the moment.