New Year’s Resolutions: Will You Keep Yours?

It’s almost the New Year, which means a new start, and for many people, a New Year’s Resolution.

 Resolutions you set for yourself can be hard to maintain, but it all depends on the goal you set for yourself to achieve. A survey conducted by Statistic Brain, a research firm, found that only 8% of Americans are successful in achieving their New Year’s Resolutions as of 2012.

In a survey of 50 students and staff at Talawanda High School, 60% of people actually make resolutions for themselves. 75% of the people who said they make resolutions admitted they are not able to keep them.

“I am too lazy to keep up with my resolutions,” said freshman Kennady LeMieux

Many other students who said they couldn’t follow their resolutions said it had to do with their personal perseverance.
“Keeping up with my resolutions is just too much work,” said senior Austin Lee.

Freshman Chris Sheard has tried over the years to keep up with his resolutions, but has been unsuccessful. “I make resolutions for myself to try and achieve something. I am not able to keep up with them because I shoot too high when making them.”

Brenda Wright, assistant librarian at Talawanda High School, said she is usually able to keep up with her resolutions. “I set smaller goals for myself, that way they are easier to reach,” she said. “Instead of saying I’m going to lose 20 pounds, I just shoot for 5 or 10 because it is a more reasonable goal to reach.”

Other people don’t bother with making resolutions for the New Year.

“I don’t feel the need to,” said Ms. Montero, a student teacher here at Talawanda. Mrs. McCartney, a math teacher a Talawanda, doesn’t feel the need to either. “I agree with Ms. Montero,” she said. “It’s just not necessary.”

“Ms. Millard, a student teacher at Talawanda, has given up on making New Year’s Resolutions. “I used to make resolutions, but not anymore,” she said. “One year I said I was going to eat every meal with chopsticks. It lasted about a month but then I gave up.”

As the New Year approaches, you might want to consider making a resolution for yourself. A study conducted by Statistic Brain states that, “people who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t make resolutions.”