The Resolve of Resolutions: The psychology of making new year’s resolutions and why people should keep doing it

Kim Moriones - January 25th

Happy (Belated) New Year to everyone reading this! 

Three weeks or about 6% of 2023 has already passed, and I’m still feeling the Winter Break Hangover. Apparently, I’m not the only one struggling to pull myself together — at least that’s what I’ve heard from a few teachers and even from some administration complaints. West coast residents experience hard resets with the new year and the new spring semester, the freezing and hazardous weather dampening moods and motivations to do well in school or any other extracurricular that doesn’t include sitting on their phone the whole day. But speaking of motivations, let’s talk about the counter movement that jumpstarts journaling fanatics and gym rats alike: New Year's Resolutions.

The concept of New Year’s resolutions has been around for centuries, the first few being documented in the 17th century and popularized in the 19th century. Way back then, it was initially played as a joke: one would create a resolution and promptly break it soon after. It’s supposed to be funny — and it is; it’s a quick and still extremely common way to pull some cheap laughs at the beginning of the year. 

But as trends as significant and reiterating as these go, people actually started to take the more literal meaning and purpose of the new year’s resolution into mind. They start to actually plan out what could make them more successful or richer or stronger — in summary: they self-evaluate their life now and develop ways to step closer to a happier future. These could be through organizing their lives with daily planners and journals: a popular and timeless resolution suited for creatives and entrepreneurs alike. Then we have both physical and psychological fitness aspirers who sign up for that next free month of gym membership or download a new app to learn new languages and other lessons. 

Here’s the real kicker, though: Only about 45% of New Year's Resolutions make it to December 31st, according to a 2020 New Urban Plates/Ipsos survey from Forbes Health. That means more than half of U.S. residents don’t finish their new year’s resolutions, a whopping 30% of them dying during or right after one month. There are even unofficial dates in January where people are allowed to quit doing their resolutions. So that begs the question: What’s the point? Why make resolutions when there’s a good chance they’re not going to work?

Motive. The sheer concept of creating an ideal world where someone is happier than they are right at that moment is extremely powerful. 

I know the word “manifesting” doesn’t really have the best connotations nowadays, but it really works, at least in the case where you convince yourself that your goals and aspirations are possible. The more you think about the end goal by creating, writing, and planning these resolutions, the more likely you are to achieve them. New Year’s resolutions are meant to put the list maker into a positive and determined mindset. 

Obviously they’re not magic — progress isn’t going to happen by itself without a lot of time and effort — but really, they set the pace for the rest of the year. You make and shape your future, or it’ll shape you. The point of making New Year’s Resolutions is to forgive your past mistakes and help your present self reach a happier future with reminders and encouragement from your progress. It’s a simple, positive mindset strategy. 

So, got any New Year’s Resolutions for this year?