With a new year approaching, many people aim to set goals and resolutions for the 365 days that lie ahead. From exercising more to prioritizing mental health, new year’s resolutions are a way to establish new practices and routines.
Director of Counseling at Sacred Heart University, Daniel Fontana, said new year’s resolutions offer a feeling of starting over and developing new habits.
“I feel the reason behind new year’s resolutions is because it offers a kind of clean slate and fresh start. A form of re-inventing yourself you could say,” said Fontana. “The idea of starting something new or changing something in your life in the middle of the year can be perceived as an even greater challenge due to the fact you are already in the midst of your routine actions or behaviors.”
A student making a list of resolutions for the
upcoming new year.
Fontana said because of this “clean slate” phenomenon, people do not often create these resolutions mid-year.
“With a new year, I feel this almost makes the change more palatable or perceived as easier to do simply because it’s a brand-new year. We all hear that term ‘new year, new me.’ I have never heard someone say, ‘same year, new me,’ which leads me to believe that the clean slate perspective is the driving force behind a resolution,” said Fontana.
Fontana said that people can be just as successful at establishing and accomplishing goals if they were to create them at any point during the year.
“I think it’s important to note that people aren’t always ready to make changes simply because it’s a new year. Change is complicated. Just because it’s a new year doesn’t mean you’re exactly ready to take action, sometimes it takes more time,” Fontana said.
“At the end of the day new year’s resolutions are fun because it’s almost more tradition at this point, but people can have much more success and also apply less pressure on themselves if they approached change in a more structured realistic fashion,” he said.
Sophomore Maria Esposito said that developing new year’s resolutions help her reflect on the previous year and figure out ways she can improve in the upcoming year.
“New year’s resolutions help me focus on achieving goals that I want to set for myself and have a positive outlook going forward into the new year. This is the time to reflect on the past year and come up with new accomplishments for myself,” said Esposito. “My new year’s resolutions last year were to fix my sleep schedule, be more consistent at the gym, and to stress less and live more in the moment.”
Sophomore Averi Wurst said establishing these goals helps her stay motivated amd help her look back on personal growth.
“New year’s resolutions are what keep me motivated throughout the year. I look back and reminisce on the past year and come up with ideas to benefit my well-being as a whole,” said Wurst. “Some resolutions I have made over the years include spending more time studying, keeping myself more organized overall, and staying on top of my schoolwork.”
Although people can choose to develop new habits at any time, many like Esposito and Wurst choose Jan. 1 because it gives them a feeling of a fresh start.
