We are only a few weeks into 2016, but many of you have already forgotten about your New Year’s resolutions. I know I have. I had typical “self-betterment” goals and mapped out an overly-ambitious plan for my entire year. I was to exercise every day and start eating healthier. Let’s just say the only exercising I have been doing this year is speed-walking the long treks to and from the Gries Center in hopes of making it to class on time (though thankfully, the new walkways have significantly reduced the journey.) To say the least, my New Year’s resolutions have not as successful as I had planned.

I’m not the only person who is guilty of too-easily abandoning these resolutions. According to research from the University of Scranton, only 8% of people actually achieve their New Year’s resolutions. Of course, some slightly more motivated individuals may stick to their resolutions for longer than a few weeks. I decided to talk to Berkeley students about their experiences with resolutions, and what I heard was consistent with the statistics.

Krishna Menon ’18 said that he “made a resolution never to eat junk food again.” Menon stated that he was “good for one week, until [he] regressed and found [himself] finishing off a family-sized bag of Cheetos at home.”

Though a week seems like a short period of time, some students didn’t even make it to the 24 hour mark. Talking about her progress, Sammie Lee ‘17   said “I tried going vegetarian—and I really made an effort, but it only lasted about twelve hours before I gave in.”

Senior Alex Nightingale had a very creative goal, hoping to “not get hurt in the New Year.” Nightingale failed to succeed as he “already tore [his] shoulder playing soccer.” Some students also strive to improve upon their personal qualities. Sally Thompson ‘17 explained to me that her resolution was to “be nicer.” When I asked her how that was working out for her, she glared at me and shoved me into a locker (ok, maybe her response was not that aggressive, but she did indicate that her resolution was not very successful.)  

But why do we even make New Year’s resolutions in the first place? Aside from the champagne (*ahem, sparkling grape juice,) fireworks and Times Square celebrations, the new year is simply a change in a single digit of the clock. But many people think that with this change, an entire personal revamp is mandatory. If you’re one of the skilled few who has continued with a resolution thus far, I commend you for your resoluteness and tenacity. But for the others of you who were not so successful, don’t trash your 2016 goals just yet. It seems that people use certain occasions as an opportunity to set goals or better themselves–i.e. “this school year I am going to…” or “in 2016 I am going to be more…” When they don’t work out, we assume that we have “failed” and give up until next year. It doesn’t have to take another full revolution around the sun in order to create a set of goals or change oneself for the better. Instead of creating New Year’s resolutions that are bound to fail, we should simply make changes whenever we feel they need to be done. Next time you think of something along the lines of, “I need to start exercising,” or “I need to stop procrastinating,” don’t wait for some occasion to make it happen. Set a goal, and achieve it.