As the clock ticks closer to midnight, the hearts of millions of Americans beat rapidly and their minds churn with the prospect of their best year waiting around the corner. As each new year starts, a common trend amongst many is to create a New Year’s resolution. The purpose of a New Year’s resolution is to set a personal goal such as self improvement, getting better grades, and countless other aspirations for the upcoming new year. Since the end of the very infamous 2017, many people looked forward to 2018. Throughout the halls of Cherokee Trail, students are trying their best to keep their goals. A trending resolution so far has been self improvement. Andi Borgoa (12) said, “There is a lot of room for self improvement.”

About 8% of people throughout the year accomplish their resolution. However, in contrast to the national statistic, Cherokee Trail students sound pretty confident with their goals. “If I commit to it I think I’ll make it,” Carina Boraon (11) says. The confidence in Cherokee Trail students stems from the belief that many of them will keep their goals if they won’t give up.

Studies also show that writing it down or putting it somewhere could be especially helpful. Carina disagreed, “Not necessarily. A resolution shouldn’t be something you should write down. It should be an initial goal in your head.” Emma Warrington (10) actually does put her resolutions somewhere every year. “I have a jar full of New Year’s Resolutions from past years,” she states.

Giving up a resolution is really common throughout the whole year. Of all the people who make goals for the new year, about 25% of people give up the first week. “Stick to them. If you put your mind to it or anything, nothing is impossible,” Emma said. Keeping your goal has the possibility to be maintainable. The most surefire ways to achieve your New Year’s resolution include, but are not limited to:

1. Keep it simple. Don’t make big goals that are hard to reach. Doing so could be especially hard on you when don’t reach it.
2. Don’t generalize. Making a general goal such as lose weight or get good grades can be pretty hard to reach and makes you less efficient. A goal can become more achievable if it is broken down into components and steps for success rather than an overarching hope for improvement.
3. Don’t be too hard on yourself. “If you miss a day, don’t feel too bad. Just see what you can do next time to keep at it,” Andi says. A goal isn’t supposed to be easy, there is work supposed to be put into it. Giving up because you failed once shouldn’t be a reason you didn’t finish your resolution. Failure is a learning experience to see what you shouldn’t do next time.
4. Make it relevant. Don’t make a goal that doesn’t have personal significance. If a goal matters to you, you will have more incentive to go through with it and eventually be able to accomplish it. Ultimately you will feel more motivated if it’s something you’re passionate about.
5. Make it a timed goal. An examples of this would be: “I will accomplish this goal by….” Setting a time makes you have it set and makes you plan out your goal. This also makes it so that there is more thought put into your goal. Holding yourself accountable makes you less likely to put it off. The slight pressure of finishing something on time makes you really motivated to finish it.

The new year is a very exciting thing to look forward to. The resolutions we make at the end of a year is a great way to better ourselves. 2018 is the year we all have been looking forward to, and now that it’s here it is time to live up to our resolutions and make it a good year.