Faceoff: Should New Year's Resolutions be made on Jan. 1 or any day of the year?

The Messenger debates on the traditional time constraints of New Year’s Resolutions.

Graphic by Meghana Ramineni, Editor-in-Chief

Yes

Sofia Mang, Staff Writer

“New Year, New Me!”. Everyone knows that saying, and every year it’s repeated over and over by multiple people setting goals for themselves to achieve for the year. Many think that waiting for the new year is pointless, but people using the excitement of a new beginning as a reason to get the life they want is the perfect option. The past and society have proven that setting goals for the new year is extremely effective because they promote a better mindset and cause the person who makes the goals to become more motivated towards it. 

At the end of a new year, there is often happiness mixed with a little disappointment from the people who weren’t able to achieve their goals. However, they still see the new year as a beacon of hope and a fresh start. Though they could have made multiple goals in the middle or near the end of the year, they didn’t see any starting point or ending goal to mark their progress. When goals are made at the beginning of the year, there is a set time that they can track and use to motivate themselves in that time frame. For example, if someone were to set a goal to eat healthier for the new year, they can track from January to December and make sure they eat healthy for the whole year. But if they were to set that same goal in the middle of the year, like in September, there’s no way for them to envision a timeline of their goal. Using the new year as a “new beginning” is the best way to create this timeline for any goal. Starting off in a completely new year allows people to leave their mistakes and regrets behind and instead focus only on their new goals. Having the year laid out in front of them makes it easier for them to envision actually achieving it. 

Many argue that it’s useless to wait to set goals at the beginning of a new year instead of just choosing any day to finally initiate change. But what is the point of choosing any day? There’s not enough motive, organization, or reason behind the goal that can make someone want to achieve it as intently as if they were to start it at the beginning of the year. No person can work towards any goal without motive, because that’s the most important part. The second most important part is timing, which is why it’s perfect to set goals at the start of the new year for the possibility of a higher chance of success.

Tracking goals from the start to the end of a year guarantee a way for someone to see themselves improve and follow through with what they wanted to do. If people plan to exercise more and they decide to make it a New Year’s resolution, at the end of the year they can look back and see if they really did achieve that goal, whether they find out from logging what they did or just through the personal feeling of improvement. This isn’t really possible for goals made any day of the year because there’s no way for them to feel any sense of improvement when the lines are blurred between the months of the year. 

Even though the phrase “New Year, New Me” may be cheesy and overused, the reasoning behind it makes sense and is more efficient than the mindset that change can happen any day, so choosing any time of the year to initiate a goal isn’t worth it. 

No

Madisyn Signal, Staff Writer

New Year’s resolutions have been a worldwide tradition for years, but throughout the years, its popularity has increased tremendously. The purpose of a New Year’s resolution is to set a goal for yourself to achieve and stick to throughout the year. Some resolutions are unsuccessful, and others can be very successful. Either way, the promise that you make is set to improve your life in the following year. 

New Year’s resolutions are expected to be made at the beginning of the new year but people often find themselves not lasting even a month. That is why people should be able to start their resolutions anytime they want instead of having to do it on the first day of January. If people can start their resolutions whenever they want throughout the year, they will be more motivated to go through with their resolution. According to the New York Times, “More than half of resolutions fail.” If resolutions fail throughout the year, people are going to be less motivated to do it again. If people start their resolutions when they’re ready, they have more of a chance of succeeding. This also gives them more time to think of new ideas and improve more things throughout the year.

It may be hard to keep up with a resolution for many reasons. If people make too many resolutions or get too busy this can make it hard to complete the resolution. A common reason that people break their resolutions is the overcommitment they instill in the resolution. According to Franklin Covey, over 40% of people blame busy schedules for our lack of follow-through. If you keep just one resolution, it won’t be as hard to be consistent and go through it successfully. Another reason why people fail New Year’s resolutions is a lack of commitment. If too much is going on at the beginning of the year, or something is stopping you from achieving your resolution, you will not be as committed and motivated to follow through with it.

If New Year’s resolutions are started any time of the year, people are more likely to complete them. If you can pick when you want to start your resolutions, you will be more motivated and you can pick the best time to start for you. If you have a lot of things going on at the beginning of the year, you can be too busy to focus on your resolution or simply just forget. When you decide when you start your resolution, it is a better plan because you can pick when is the best time for you and just work on it for the rest of the year.