3 Reasons You Should Make Resolutions This Year (Even If You Fail)

It's that time of the year again. We're packing away our holiday decorations, shaking off our hangovers and breathing in the air of a New Year. One of my friends posted this meme the other day, and the sentiment seemed to be a popular one amongst my peers and loved ones. We've come to expect it at this point- with the new year comes hoards of people making resolutions, feeling pumped with the excitement of starting fresh only to slowly (or suddenly) quit. In fact, the act of giving up on resolutions is almost as much of a tradition as making them. Many of my friends said they don't make resolutions, because if they really want to change, they can do it any time of the year. And while this is true, is there something different about making New Year's Resolutions?


I was surprised to find that making New Years resolution dates back thousands of years to ancient Babylonia. Although their New Year began in March (when they planted that year's crops) it was a tradition to promise their Gods that they would pay their debts and return borrowed objects. It was believed that if they kept their promises, their Gods would reward them with plentiful crops and other fortunes.

New Years resolutions as we know it may have come about in ancient Rome (after Julius Caesar created the Julian Calendar in 46 BC) establishing the first of January as the start of the new year. January was named after the Roman God Janus, who was a deity with two faces, believed to look back on the last year and be able to change the course of the coming year. Romans made sacrifices and promises of good conduct toward Janus in January in hopes that it would bring them good fortune. (Learn more about the history of New Years here)

Modern resolutions may look a little different today, but the sentiment it the same. Many of us see the beginning of the New Year as the perfect opportunity to make changes and goals, usually with the intent of changing our quality of life. Common resolutions are to lose weight, stop bad habits such as smoking or cursing, or to make responsible choices like saving money and paying off debts. Though resolutions vary, according the the AMA, over 41% or Americans participate in making them every year. And out of those, 88% of them fail at achieving them.

Some people look at these these statistics (or perhaps at their own graveyard of discarded resolutions) and think that there is no point in trying to make NYRs, but here are 3 reasons why I think you should make New Years Resolutions this year, even if you fail.

1. You will be in good company: You won't be the only one this month promising to get more exercise, watch less tv or spend more time with family. Many people will be making New Years Resolutions in the next few days, and this can  be a wonderful support system. Telling others your goals and finding ones who have similar ones can help you to stay on track with the added bonus of feeling good about participating in something larger than yourself.

2. You will be more likely to succeed: While it is true that there is a very high chance that you will not meet your NYRs, studies show that people who make resolutions are 10x more likely to succeed than people who don't. Now, that might seem like common sense: of course people who try will succeed more than people who don't. But there is something special about the feeling of a New Year and all of the possibilities it holds that can inspire us to dream big. It is like a blank canvas, waiting for you to pick up that brush and create something new.

3. Success often comes from failure: Do you have someone in your life who is so afraid of failure that they won't even try? Our culture often condemns failure as "the end". We do not want to admit defeat, especially our own short-comings and when we try something and don't meet our expectations, it can be very east to quit. But failure is part of change. How many of us have ridden a bike, but never fallen over? How many of us have never done poorly on a test? We have all faced failure, and it is important to remember that there are lessons and skills learned in the process, not just the end-goal. Every great writer, athlete, politician, etc. you can think of has failed at some point in their life. The important distinction is that they did not let it stop them. When you can learn from your failures, you can turn it around into a stepping stone from which to continue moving forward.

So I encourage you to make New Years resolutions this year. Try writing them down and putting them on your wall or your fridge where you can see them everyday. Having our goals at the forefront of our mind can help us to achieve them. I also encourage you to make specific, measurable goals. Instead of saying you want to lose weight, say you'd like to lose 5lbs. per month. Instead of saying you want to quit smoking, make the goal of getting down to one pack per day, then one pack per week, etc. Make a list of specific actions you can take the reach your goals, and cross them off the list as you achieve them.

Even if you fail, be proud that you tried..and try again.

Happy New Year!

-J. M. Degamo