Happy New Year! It’s crazy to think how quickly another year has come and gone. 2021 was filled with lots of ups and downs but despite all of the challenges, I’d like to think we all learned, grew, and became better people.

The beginning of every new year is always hard since all the Holidays and parties are officially over, but I have a good feeling about 2022. If you think about it, the prospect of meeting new people, making new friends, making more memories with your current friends, and trying new things is exciting and it makes me hopeful for the year ahead.

For the longest time, people have started the year by setting New Year’s resolutions. New Year’s resolutions have the potential of being really great things. It’s always good to set goals with the intent to better yourself but lots of people don’t end up doing anything different in the new year, and before they know it it’s December 31st.

People think they can just tell themselves to do something and it’ll happen, but the truth is you have to want it badly enough so you’re motivated to get it done. No one’s going to accomplish your goals for you, and whether or not you grow in the new year is entirely up to you.

Everyone has different thoughts on New Year’s resolutions and I think we all need to hear from each other.

“I saw a post on social media that changed my thoughts on the title ‘New Year’s resolutions.’ I hate the word ‘resolutions.’ The post I saw called them ‘New Year’s practices’ saying that you’ll be practicing something like working out which can make you feel more productive. But when a goal is made, you feel the need to do it every day and when you miss a day you feel you’ve failed and can’t come back from it. When you call it a practice and you miss a day, you didn’t fail, you just forgot to practice that task and can do better next time. With that mindset, I feel like they are much more effective and like I’m still accomplishing something. If these practices are creating better habits, I don’t think they’re stupid. One of my ‘New Year’s practices’ is writing in my journal every night,” senior, Lydia Snow, said.

I think resolutions are great, but I never really thought about how all the pressure you put on yourself can be damaging and make you more likely to give up when you struggle to accomplish it. So maybe it’s time to replace the term resolutions with practices.

“I think New Year’s goals are great because it’s a reflection and helps you want to improve. It’s cool to sit down and think about how you’ve been doing and to see how you can be better. I do think a lot of people take them the wrong way though. For example, people make goals to go to the gym twice a week and they do it for a few weeks and after that, they don’t stick with it. Because of this, I think people need to find a way to be consistent and set goals that push them but aren’t overwhelming and impossible. Checking on your improvement every once in a while and adjusting your goal if it’s not working is a great idea as well. Personally, I’ve wanted to improve on writing in my journal and start doing it weekly. I just need to find a time that works best for me,” senior, Sarah Hess, said.

Whether or not you set resolutions, there’s always room to improve. Just remember to start where you’re at and not bite off more than you can chew.

Happy goal setting!