Right as the clock strikes midnight and January 1st comes around, many people around the world have plans on what they want to accomplish for the new year. These plans, known as New Year’s resolutions, drive people to better themselves and start new habits. Making New Year’s resolutions is not something new as many people create resolutions each year. According to the online survey platform Finder, 74.02% of American adults say they plan on having some personal goal for 2021. 

While it is okay to create new yearly goals and accomplish new tasks, people have the misperception that they can only make and follow resolutions when the new year hits. This perception of New Year’s resolutions shouldn’t be kept until the new year when people can accomplish their resolutions at any time during the year. These new goals people wish to achieve can simply diminish in a span of just weeks if they are misguided by their goals.

According to the Forbes article “Reasons Why We Don’t Achieve New Year’s Resolutions”, around 80% of people stop following their New Year’s resolutions by the second week of February. Too many goals, having no motivation and setting unrealistic goals are some of the factors that make some give up on their resolutions quickly. 

In reality, people create a sense of false hope by creating new goals when they have nothing to motivate them due to the pressure of creating new resolutions by external factors or following the “new year, new me” bandwagon. Having goals to better ourselves shouldn’t automatically be created or started on the first day of the year as this process takes time and should be thought-out. When people rush into their goals head first, they are setting themselves up for failure, meaning their goal won’t last long.

In order to not fall into this trap, people should create goals when they are able to find the motivation and not simply wait for the new year to start. People must realize that pursuing goals takes time and effort and that they have to make goals realistic and attainable to them. When they want to achieve their personal resolutions, they must plan it out and be able to find the motivation to pursue it. 

It is not rare for people to make goals and wishes to better themselves and grow all the time. If someone has a goal they want to achieve, they shouldn’t waste their time waiting for the new year to start when the feelings of not being motivated overflow. People should start their new resolution at any time of the year when they are able to achieve it rather than not being able to follow it due to the false hope of New Year’s resolutions.