As the new year dawns upon the world, the chatter of new year’s resolutions can be heard throughout the halls. Many set goals they aspire to achieve and keep through the new year, however now it’s time to look at the other side of resolutions, the why.

The new year represents a fresh start and clean slate, a clear marker to make change.

“It’s the start to the new year, in my head it’s like a start line to start achieving my goals,” junior Alex Schaefer said. 

Schaefer’s new year’s goal is to start working out consistently, although he was trying to stay on top of it during the last few months of 2021, With the new year upon us he knew when he was going to start taking it seriously.

“I really set this goal in an effort to better myself, not just how I look, but my life as a whole,” Schaefer said. “ I feel like once I bring consistency to working out, I can apply that mindset to school and baseball.” 

While some resolutions are made at the new year because it provides a fresh start, others have a different type of mindset. Senior Rachel Gleeson explained how the resolutions she makes in her life aren’t based around the start of the new year. 

“If this goal that someone is trying to reach through a resolution is so important, then it shouldn’t take a new year to start it,” Gleeson said.

Although maintaining new year’s resolutions are sometimes easier said than done, there are ways to make them more successful. 

“Making sure you set realistic new year’s goals is one way to make sure you achieve them,” psychology teacher Norma Saatjian said.  

A lot of people set too high of a bar when it comes to resolutions, however if you make smaller goals and work your way up to the big goal, it’s more likely to be achieved, Saatjian explained. Another reason why so many new years goals fail is because people do not keep with it. Once people realize how hard it is to reach that goal they set, most just give up. 

“You are not going to see immediate change once you set a resolution, however if you stay with it for 30 days, that’s when you’ll be able to start seeing a difference,” Saatjin said. 

Saatjian relates the idea of setting smaller goals in order to reach your final resolution, back to her old running days. 

“I used to be a runner, and when you are working yourself up to a marathon you can’t just go out there and run it,” Saatjian said. “You have to be able to set goals to work your way up.”

New Year’s resolutions are easy to give up on, however there are ways to persevere and see positive results.

“Resolutions should have a positive impact on your life, whether it’s for new years or not,” Gleeson said.