After the holiday joys of Christmas, New Year’s seems a bit of a letdown, to say the least. Look at the media, and you will find hundreds of movies and songs centered on Christmas; yet, when it comes to New Year’s Day, the list is woefully small, if it even exists. Yet there are things that make New Year’s Day special, and one of them is the tradition of New Year’s resolutions! I am sure we have all made one, be it as a joke or in earnest. While the idea of using the coming New Year as a clean slate is inspiring and refreshing, the reality of that fresh start lasting is a bit depressing.
When you think of New Year’s resolutions, the most common ones tend to center on becoming a better, healthier person or accomplishing something. In a survey for top New Year’s resolutions for 2026, the most common ones were to exercise more, save more money, eat healthier, and spend more time with family and friends. All of these are great and wonderful goals; however, about half of all those who make a New Year’s resolution end up ditching it by the end of the third month, and only about 6% end up sticking with their resolutions for the entirety of the year. So while eating healthier and prioritising time with loved ones is great, the odds of a person actually sticking with it are slim to none. There are loads of articles regarding why most generic resolutions, such as to exercise more or save money, are not really the best.
Why do most typical New Year’s resolutions set you up for failure? One reason is that the most popular resolutions are too big to accomplish. It is very difficult to completely change your life, such as to suddenly commit to going to the gym every day for 2 hours or to stop eating all processed foods. While these are nice ideals, the feasibility of implementing these resolutions overnight sets one up for failure. A better alternative would be to set up smaller goals, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator to increase the amount of steps walked or eating just one more portion of vegetables per day. These smaller resolutions also have the benefit of being more specific, because how exactly does one eat healthier? It is a principle with no real method of execution. However, stating that you will prepare a healthy breakfast during the week gives you a clear step-by-step approach to achieve that goal. Measuring one’s progress throughout the year will also become easier.
So instead of saying you will spend more time with family and friends, which is a noble ambition that will likely fail in the long run, replace it with a SMART goal (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound), such as calling home every Saturday for an hour or meeting up with three friends once a month, both being specific and measurable and clear. Rather than exercise more, commit to going to the gym three times a week for however long you can. Do not say you will save money, but rather track your spending for a month and see what are some areas where you can cut back or where you are spending, even unintentionally. Now it’s your turn, look over what you are committed to improving and create one SMART goal for yourself to implement.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.