A New Year of Resolutions … or Not

Ah, the lure of an open gym in the new year. Source: Marist College

Our ancestors in Mesopotamia decided the new year was the perfect time to begin the tradition of creating a New Year’s resolution. Back then, people would simply return borrowed items or promise to complete philanthropic acts. 

A few thousand new years later, in a fast-changing modern world, can the tradition of creating a New Year’s resolution still be relevant?

“Creating a goal at the beginning of the year makes no sense when you can make a goal at any point in the year and create multiple, new goals as you go,” said Morgan Reichman ‘24.

Statistics prove that Reichman’s opinion is not an uncommon one – after all, only 37% of American adults planned to create a New Year’s Resolution, according to a YouGov poll in 2022. Peter Traudt ‘27 stands within that minority.

“I think New Year's resolutions are great because if a person is really passionate about their resolution, it can drive them to be better,” said Traudt. “My personal New Year's resolution is to work out more and get into better shape.”  

Almost half of all New Year’s resolutions are based on the idea of improving fitness, but the other half is mostly pertaining to financial stability and mental health – still, these three topics alone make up more than 58% of all resolutions.

Perhaps Ermani Laurent ‘27 summed it up best with his middle-ground approach, one which also takes into account an everlasting goal of all college students.

“I think New Year's resolutions can be a good thing but are mostly just a trend at this point,” said Laurent. “My resolution is to fix my time management.”