Published January 30, 2025
BY ABBY COE
Introduced by the Babalonians over 4,000 years ago, New Year’s resolutions have become anything but a part of the past. Recently, it has become harder to keep resolutions, with less than 10 percent actually accomplishing their goals, says Sara Moniuszko, a writer for CBS News.
Although resolutions are a significant part of modern culture, they are equally prominent on the CHS campus.
“We’re always trying to change and better ourselves,” says AP Psychology teacher Nora Ward, who maintains that since humans are socially adaptable creatures, the pressures that come with the new year are completely normal. Yet the educator cautions against making resolutions simply because of the new year. “Everyone should set SMART goals, at any time.”
Setting SMART goals–specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound–is a key aspect to the attainability of New Year’s resolutions, says Ward.
(graphic by ABBY COE)
“Resolutions are something that you can really start at any time you want, so I don’t really feel a special pressure to start it specifically for the new year,” says CHS junior Yoshi Cole.
There is a popular myth that it takes 21 days to form a habit, explains Scientific American writer Jocelyn Solis-Moreira: “A hallmark 2009 study on habit creation found that habits developed in a range of 18 to 254 days; participants reported taking an average of about 66 days to reliably incorporate one of three new daily activities.”
Ward contends that it is best to start small, with goals that are attainable within this two to three month period.
“Do it because it is something that you really are motivated to do because that motivation is what’s going to be the drive to be able to do it for more than a day or two,” urges Ward.
Senior Samantha Szamos notes that while she didn’t fully achieve her resolution to spend less time on screens, she is determined to pursue it again in 2025.
“Since I’m going into college in the fall, it’s going to be easy to get caught up in my phone and whatnot, [so] I’m going to try and be in the present moment,” she says. “Try and make [resolutions] more realistic…. People often get caught up in trying to create so many resolutions that they lose focus on the attainability aspect of it.”
Amy Somers, a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor in Carmel, describes how she helps clients choose their resolutions by having them create a “roadmap” for themselves.
“We check in on the roadmap weekly, make adjustments if needed and celebrate when intentions are met, focusing on how this feels differently in their body,” Somers says.
This continued focus shows Somers’ clients how their resolutions changed their reality and how much power it gave them over their lives. Somers explains that resources such as self-regulation practices and Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy can help her clients reflect on what is working against them and why, where it originated and what clients need to heal.
“When we reach these intentions, we check in and see what else the client wants or needs in the healing process,” says Somers. “Sometimes we’re completed, sometimes we set new intentions.”
Setting his own new intentions, CHS physics teacher Don Freitas shares that his resolution last year to read 12 books has evolved into a goal of 25 nonfiction books this year, while also increasing his physical activity and connection with nature by riding his bike.
“It’s something that I’m enjoying, [and] that I want to do more of,” says Freitas. “Make [resolutions] so [they’re] something that you like doing that maybe you’re not doing enough of.”
Not only achieving resolutions, but making them demonstrates a happiness factor, Ward says, which can make us feel better about ourselves. Healthy habit resolutions such as saving money, losing weight and quitting smoking become a part of our lives and make us happier. Ward’s own resolution that she has maintained for a year and a half was to check Facebook every morning and wish someone she knew–or didn’t know–a happy birthday.
CHS math teacher Dawn Hatch makes her resolutions not at the beginning of each calendar year, but at the start of each school year.
“Mine [are] just about resetting and just knowing that you have to talk to yourself about maintaining [resolutions] and being better,” she says. “Only make one that’s going to make you feel better about yourself and that you feel is doable.”
Sophomore Owen Jackson admits that some of his resolutions fell through due to a lack of motivation and not holding himself to a high enough standard.
“Start small and create a plan,” he says. “Just build up from where you are.”
