OPINION

Opinion: False resolutions

by Natalie Jarvie

Graphic Designer

New year, new you … well not really. I worked at a recreation center for two years, and every Jan. 2 our center saw an increase in new memberships. Attendance was booming in the beginning and then quickly fell off in a matter of days. Well, sometimes it took a week. I personally do not make New Year’s resolutions anymore, because they just never seem to work out. Especially when you’re a procrastinator like myself, who is also a busy mom with a job and school to do.

40 percent of people make these resolutions but only 8 percent
actually succeed.

*Percentages from Forbes

We are setting ourselves up to fail with New Year’s resolutions. They make us think that these things are possible but in reality they are more than likely not going to work out. I don’t like making them for that reason. I don’t want to set myself up for failure. You shouldn’t either. Maybe instead we should just do things we want and not just because it is New Year’s. When we just do it for New Year’s and not for something more important, it doesn’t happen. If we start setting goals for ourselves on a random day, in a random month, just because we want to, I think it would be more likely to succeed.

I personally have begun working out more to help my mental and physical health. However I am not doing this because it is New Year’s. I am doing it now because I have time to do it now. I have been wanting to start working out for a few months and I haven’t had the time because of finals and family. Now that the semester is over and I have a little bit of time to organize my schedule, I feel as though I can start my plan to work out more now. I also feel very motivated with my plan because I am doing this for myself, to better myself. I don’t need a new year for a new me.

My goal for myself is to learn how to defend myself and get stronger. A very common New Year’s resolution is to lose weight, and normally a very ridiculous amount of weight. I feel as though losing weight isn’t important. The way I see it is, if you are comfortable you don’t need to change. If you feel like you need to change, like I do with getting stronger, then go for it.