When you think of New Year’s, what do you think of? Maybe you think of staying up until midnight and watching the ball drop in Times Square. Maybe you think of fireworks and huge letters spelling out whichever year comes next. Maybe you think of the past year or the year to come. And maybe you think of New Year’s resolutions. I have never been a fan of New Year’s resolutions. I find them tedious; to think of a goal that I can polish up and share with the world. It has to seem impressive but attainable, commendable yet personal. Above all, New Year’s resolutions seem like something glitzy that you would walk past in a boutique window. Herein lies the problem with New Year’s resolutions. Goals should be relevant and raw. They should not have to be shared with others for validation or merit. Goals should be something that we are motivated to do for ourselves. 

Statistics show that more than 90% of U.S. resolutions are abandoned (usually within the first couple of months), according to a CBS News article. But why do we make resolutions if the data shows that, just a few weeks later, we overwhelmingly abandon them? Because, according to Hamza Banatwala ‘26, “It’s around the phrase new year, new me. It’s an opportunity to change.” Although he thought that the introspection promoted by resolutions is beneficial, he said, “ Having goals specifically for New Year’s seems a little funny to me. You should always be improving.” 

I have set a resolution every year for as long as I can remember, but not because I felt a need to change. I set resolutions because of social pressure and the norm of tradition. My lack of motivation shows: I have not followed through on a single one. This year, when asked about my resolution, I thought about something I could say that would make me look good; Something that was sophisticated and socially beneficial. I searched for my response, even as I thought about how I had no intention of following through on my words. “I want to _______,” I finally said. And yes, that is a blank, intentionally. I cannot recall my fabricated ambition. 

Larsen Winternheimer ‘27 had a similar experience. She said of her past resolutions, “ [I made resolutions], but I forgot them because I don’t think I really did them.” When asked about why she made resolutions without much intention behind them (“I didn’t really think anything needed to be changed,” Winternheimer admitted), she responded, “I’m sure my mom asked me and I’d be like, oh, I’ll just, like, do this, and then I didn’t.” 

So this is it, my problem with resolutions: they are all for show. They have lost what makes goal-setting advantageous in the first place. Without the motivation that results from timely goals and true reflection, they have become yet another trifle to show off. And this cycle of lies and promises that we cannot help but break is toxic. We need to free ourselves from the fiction of New Year’s resolutions. Goals need to be enacted when, where, and how we see ourselves wanting to change. You cannot just put a timeline on becoming better, and New Year’s resolutions attempt that. We need to break the constraints of timing and persona in order to achieve true personal progress. And this is how New Year’s resolutions fail.