New Year’s Resolutions are fading as time passes for people across the world. The reason for this is more common for the average human than you may think.
By: Serenity Ceja
New Year’s Resolutions are a known tradition all around the world, meant to encourage and motivate people to achieve short-term and long-term goals. Are these goals being maintained?
We all have either made a New Year’s resolution or have known somebody who has. Having a New Year’s resolution can be tricky at times because it takes courage and the right mindset to stay focused on your resolution.
According to Alessandro Barrios, ’28, his New Year’s resolutions are to commit himself more to wrestling and the gym.
Barrios says, “I have been committed to my New Year’s resolution. I feel like I slacked off once or twice, but two strategies I use to stay on track are setting goals and writing in my journal.” Barrios exemplifies the quality of being disciplined in staying on top of your New Year’s resolutions, even when you lose track once in a while.
Keeping a New Year’s resolution is a lot harder than you may think. First, it starts as something exciting you might look forward to, like going to the gym, but as time progresses, you start to feel defeated because you are still conditioning yourself to this new implemented extracurricular you aren’t used to.
At that moment, most people give up on their New Year’s resolutions, causing New Year’s resolutions to only last for a minimal amount of time.
Autumn Xiong, ’28, says, “My New Year’s resolution was to work out, but I fell off it because after school, I would get tired and I would forget about it.” Using what she said, is there a possibility that school and any other extracurricular activities can be the reason you don’t stay on track with your New Year’s resolutions?
There isn’t anything that could make that wrong because as teenagers we are constantly doing sports, clubs, and any other activities that we enjoy and are committed to, which take up a lot of our time, not including school.
Whenever you slack on your New Year’s resolution, it can make you feel either disappointed or motivated, depending on what type of person you are, according to Xiong, “It kind of motivated me to, like, start doing it again.”
Knowing this, how can you change your perspective on your New Year’s resolution? Are you gonna be that half of the population who sees your struggles as motivation, or let your struggles define who you are and what you’re capable of?
Although there are many reasons not being able to stay on track may not be our fault, there are also things we can control that can either help or stop us from accomplishing our goals. We are all victims of procrastination, whether it’s homework, cleaning your room, or, in this case, trying something new.
Is there a possibility that procrastination can be a good reason why we lose our New Year’s resolutions?
Danica Hastings, ‘29, had set her New Year’s resolution to be more disciplined and goal-oriented. However, there will always be some sort of obstacle in all of our New Year’s resolutions, for Hastings, she said, “My greatest difficulty was procrastinating a lot. It’s pretty hard for me.” Showing procrastination can make it hard sometimes, but it’s never a reason to give up.
Hastings set a very mature and amazing New Year’s resolution, which is really challenging just by itself, but she is hoping to stay on track by using schedules and to do list so if you’re struggling with keeping your New Year’s resolution, try her suggestion on how to stay on track and see if you notice any changes in your motivation and mindset.
New Year’s resolutions are always a good thing to have for yourself. However, there are always reasons people may not want to set one. There’s always a deeper meaning to everyone’s story and their own opinions. Why may people not want to set a New Year’s resolution?
Setting New Year’s resolutions can be scary for some people, and if you are one of those people, don’t be afraid to try something new because you might end up uncovering something that you might not know about yourself.
It will be hard to face procrastination and doubt, but when you start to notice yourself enjoying your changes having accomplished your resolutions, you will look back and realize how much of an impact you have on yourself.
New Year’s resolutions are more than just some words. They mean a lot to people, more than you can imagine. Words to you can be a path to them. According to Isaiah Smith, ‘27, his New Year resolution was to “kind of have a mix between nonverbal and being verbal with people.”
To, Smith, this meant a lot, and I’m sure for many other people it means a lot too. Although he came with his struggles, like “speaking when you’re spoken to,” he learned overtime they is always the right times to speak and the wrong times, it all depends.
For those who are afraid to speak, Smith encourages you by saying, “Speak out for yourself if you feel like you’re not being heard, just raise your voice a little more or just keep your peace.”
As you can see, New Year’s resolutions mean different things to different people. For some people, it can be as simple as just being more organized for better performance, but for other people, it can be as big as being better for themselves and wanting to see results in something they’ve always wanted to do, but never got the chance.
Overall, New Year’s resolutions are hard to keep because they all come with their challenges; however, they won’t stop our Rangers from pursuing the goals they’ve set for themselves, and it shouldn’t stop you either, because you have the power to make a difference.
Serenity Ceja
Tags: 2026, clubs & lifestyles, new year, newyearsresolutions, rangers, redwood gigantea, redwood highschool, redwood journalism, rhs, visalia ca
