New year, new resolutions
New year, new me — at least that’s how the saying goes.
With 2023 starting, people around the world are looking back on 2022 and seeing how much they grew or changed. They are also deciding what changes they would like to see in the next year and figuring out what their New Year’s resolutions will be.
The tradition of creating a New Year’s resolution dates back around 4,000 years ago. At the beginning of their year, which would be around the middle of present-day March, Babylonians would make promises to the gods. This tradition is believed by historians to be one of the first forms of New Year’s resolutions.
Even though resolutions are often talked about, there tends to be a small number of people who follow through on their commitments throughout the whole year.
Discover Happy Habits found around 40% of Americans make a New Year’s resolution, but only around 10% keep it. Over 35% have given up on their resolution within a month of a new year.
They also found some of the most common resolutions are living healthier, personal improvement and happiness, drinking less and doing better in school.
Macie Washburn is a USU sophomore studying social studies composite teaching. Her resolution this year is to focus on mindfulness.
“I try to always have a resolution I’m working on,” Washburn said. “I’m currently focusing on mindfulness in all aspects of my life.”
Washburn has found the last few years overwhelming and stressful.
“I’m hoping to be more present in my life and truly living in the moment,” Washburn said. “I’m also anticipating as I increase my mindfulness I can improve my emotional intelligence along with expanding my capacity to help others.”
To be a part of the 10% who keep their resolution, Forbes suggested creating an accountability structure to sustain change, being willing to make changes in yourself and not being scared of achieving your goals.
Sydney Lemon is a USU junior studying liberal arts. Her resolution is to accomplish things now as presents for her future self, specifically doing hard things right away instead of waiting.
“I picked this resolution because it’s very much left up to interpretation,” Lemon said. “At the end of the year, I get to decide how well I did sticking to my goal. There’s no sense of failure because there’s no concrete point to reach. I can only do better than I have been doing.”
Lemon hopes this resolution will allow her to build trust and gratitude for herself.
“I want to know that I can trust myself to finish small tasks instead of procrastinating them,” Lemon said. “I deal with a lot of day-to-day anxiety, and I think this goal will help me to push through that and get things done, even when I’m anxious.”
-Carter.Ottley@usu.edu