Well, it’s that time of the year again. The gyms will be full, refrigerators will be stocked with greens, and journals will be sold out — the motivational magic of New Year’s resolutions is engulfing the population.
The practice of establishing these annual expectations for oneself has been around for 4,000 years now — since the age of the Babylonians. They used to make yearly promises to their gods in order to keep divine favor. These vows are the precursors to modern-day resolutions, including oaths to pay back debts or return borrowed objects. Romans, too, made similar religious pledges of good conduct at the beginning of each year to Janus — the two-faced deity of choices from which January derives its name.
Despite years of use, it seems that we haven’t gotten much better at holding true to our resolutions. In fact, as Forbes reports, only 8% of the people that set goals for the new year achieve them. Psychologists lay out multiple reasons why this is the case. The biggest one is also the simplest — our brains get tired. Like our body, our brain wants to maintain homeostasis — how we regulate our biological functions to maintain stability — it doesn’t like when there is imbalance, or when it is under or overstimulated. However, that is exactly what New Year’s resolutions do. We concentrate a lot of brain power and energy into maintaining these aims in the beginning of the year so by March (or, let’s be realistic, Jan. 17) we run out of steam.
To counter these natural but inconvenient tendencies, there are some details you can add to your resolutions. For one, rather than setting broad goals (the most popular of which tends to be “lose more weight”) psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert suggests establishing realistic and specific ones (i.e. lose 10 pounds by March). He also maintains that the wording of the resolution is important as well, as putting a positive spin on the vow increases chances of fulfillment — there is an influential difference between “no more junk food” and “eat more vegetables.”
So. Are you ready? Using such techniques, you should be prepared to choose your pick of resolutions. Would you like to finally use that journal you were gifted years ago? Maybe pick up that guitar lesson you’ve always wanted? 2022 is a fresh start for all of us after a turbulent year, so start it off right by forming specific, achievable and beneficial goals for yourself. Happy new year!
Samidha Mishra is a senior at San Mateo High School. Student News appears in the weekend edition. You can email Student News at news@smdailyjournal.com.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
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PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
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