For students and staff, New Year’s resolutions do not seem to do the trick.

Although New Year’s resolutions seem like another harmless tradition, some students at Streetsboro High School disagree. 

Setting a New Year’s resolution is seen as common practice in society and something many people around the world partake in. Instagram posts and merchandise promote setting yearly goals. But how often is it, that by mid-year, those same people are still chasing after the goals they set months prior. 

While having a plan in place helps to move in the right direction, junior Milena Sobie said she thinks having an entire year just to improve one aspect of your life is “giving yourself too much flexibility…” and added, “If it takes you a whole year for one small goal, then you’re probably not even doing it.” 

She did say she thinks setting small goals throughout the year, as motivation strikes, is a sure way to reach them, as long as the mindset is there. 

While having goals is something most people can agree is helpful, some make the mistake of setting one and not having a plan, leading them to forget. 

If someone sets a goal, but forgets before it is achieved, it is like they never set one to begin with. Although this is the case, not everyone sets a New Year’s Resolution to achieve one. History teacher Sherry Maruna and her family have a tradition where they “write them down, put them in a little… container and then the container gets put away with Christmas stuff, and then we get them back out at Christmas.” While they have a tradition based around it, Maurna says, “I really don’t think about them beyond January.” To her and her family, the activity is the important part, not the goal, giving them a whole new meaning to the tradition.

While Maruna doesn’t fret when she forgets her goal, lots of other people fail on their goals because they lose motivation. This can be caused by overestimating on what you can achieve in a certain amount of time. Sophomore Matt Knuth says that he doesn’t even make one anymore because he knows that he “won’t stay on track, and lying won’t fix that.” Oftentimes, people don’t realize how much work their goal will take until they are a few weeks in, and as Knuth says it “causes someone to lose motivation and they fall off the wagon.”

Lacking motivation is only one way people get discouraged from making/completing a New Year’s resolution, another reason why some people do not make it to February, is that they become overwhelmed. Sophomore Natalie Queen said if a goal is too large, it causes people to “get really stressed out” and feel unable to “put their best work in because they’re scared of failure.” While she knows resolutions can help people, and she even admits that having a plan is nice for her, Queen said she often forgets about plans she sets.

Freshman CeCe Hall can relate to Queen’s narrative. She said New Year’s resolutions often “give people a false sense of hope.” This is mainly because people “like to promise more major things…not only are they bringing other people disappointment, they’re also bringing disappointment to themselves,” Hall said. 

She then mentioned what seems to be the most common New Year’s resolution that falls through: weight loss. 

Weight loss is a main focus for people when Jan. 1 comes around. Even students who do not set resolutions every year, and students like Knuth, say that if they were to have a resolution, it would be weight loss. 

“Companies want people to feel insecure about their bodies so they can make more [money] off of those same insecure people,” Knuth said. His comment touches on how New Year’s resolutions can be blamed for promoting eating disorders just to turn a profit. Knuth said he knows “people whose eating problems have started out as a resolution” that then turned into an obsession.

When it comes to setting a resolution, it is best for someone to set one that is achievable, memorable, and will improve not only their physical appearance, but mental health as well.