Amidst the drinks, loud music and countdown on New Year’s Eve, the pressure to make a resolution might creep up. Whether you’d like to get reacquainted with the bench press, get more sleep or attend class more regularly, a new year offers a new start. After all, “New year, new me,” right?
Leeam Young, a fourth-year English major at St. Thomas University, is planning on carrying out his New Year’s resolution of dining out less at restaurants and fast food chains. He’ll treat himself once every two weeks.
“It’s something that I thought I should be doing,” says Young.
He says making a grocery list of only the foods you need can help you stay focused and avoid cravings — especially Domino’s Pizza where students can get 50 per cent off on all orders.
But, as Young points out, success is not simple.
“I think that [New Year’s resolutions] can work as good motivation, but it can also kind of depress people when they think they can do something and they find out a week later that they’re not going to do it,” says Young.
Resolutions date back 4,000 years when ancient Babylonians welcomed the new year during a 12-day festival in the middle of March. Instead of setting goals to better themselves, these resolutions had religious significance. Instead of making personal promises like, ‘I will start working out everyday,’ they would make promises to the gods, like being good and moral people.
Hilary Foster, a first-year student, believes New Year’s resolutions make people put off their goals until the beginning of a new year.
“I used to make them all the time. I kind of think they’re a little bit [bullshit], like, I think if you have a goal … you should just kind of do it when you think you want [to do] something new,” says Foster.
When she was younger, Foster’s family would go around the table and share what they wanted to achieve in the new year. She would follow suit because she felt she had to.
“I feel like everybody [feels] like you have to have a goal, so you make these goals but then you don’t always stick to them, so then you feel discouraged,” says Foster.
She made the popular resolution of getting in shape two years ago, but found it difficult to stay motivated.
Due to a lack of sleep, Foster was sick and missing a lot of class time last semester. During the Christmas break, she decided to try and get her sleeping schedule back on track. This year she is trying to keep up with her goal, but doesn’t see it as a New Year’s resolution because she made the change when she wanted to, instead of waiting until Jan. 1.
Laura Wade, a first-year political science major, doesn’t make New Year’s resolutions anymore.
“I guess in the past, failing so epicly, [it’s] not worth having to deal with the failure,” says Wade.
During the past two years, she has attempted to run more often and get more sleep, but didn’t continue with them.
Wade says being a first-year student in university makes resolutions harder to accomplish.
“I feel so much busier this year than years in the past and [there’s] just a lot of change and it’s hard to stick to a goal if your life is always changing,” says Wade.
Although she feels they are not for her, she applauds those who can stay motivated.
“I think it’s great that [people] do it and I wish them the best. If you can stick to it, that’s amazing.”
