Why We Need To Stop New Year’s Resolutions

With the new year comes a new you. Or at least that’s what we tell ourselves. But in a short time, we abandoned that resolution. We have fallen for the con that is a New Year’s Resolution long enough. This year we shouldn’t participate in this tradition.

Although setting goals for oneself is beneficial, New Year’s Resolutions aren’t suitable for high school students.

New Year’s Resolutions don’t account for a change in someone’s life. Resolutions are set at the beginning of a new year. One cannot predict the future, but one can hope for the best. If something changes then they may feel guilty for not fulfilling the resolution. If there is a big change in someone’s life such as a bone break, they cannot complete their resolution to be the star player of their soccer team. It would be wrong for the player to set unachievable expectations in their head while they are physically unhealthy. Pushing themselves to achieve the goal could lead to worse. 

New Year’s Resolutions are too high of expectations for high schoolers. While students are writing resolutions, they don’t think about the AP class work or the finalizing of their high school years. One shouldn’t set the expectation to read 100 books while also trying to apply for scholarships and prepare for college. Commonly, students set expectations to get better grades, but as the year goes on, it gets harder. The student may punish themselves because they aren’t doing as well as they expected, but they should go easy on themselves and celebrate the small victories throughout the year. 

Although setting goals is a good practice, New Year’s Resolutions are not the way to go. If one wants to grow, they should set small goals every month and adapt as they go. Things will change, life will get harder, and college will get closer. One shouldn’t push themselves to achieve a silly resolution. One should appreciate their hard work and celebrate the small things.