After Christmas, everyone is geared up for the ball to drop and to ring in the New Year with their loved ones. A long-standing tradition of this exciting time is committing to a New Year’s resolution. People do this with the intention of improving upon themselves in the coming year, but that rarely is the case. Many popular resolutions include losing weight and focusing more in school. While they are seemingly simple, those types of resolutions prove to be the toughest to accomplish. But why? It’s all in the head.
Sophomore Angela Sattler took the time to make a resolution of her own to be more decisive in decisions she faces in everyday life. Although small, and fairly simple, she’s looking forward to working on reaching her goal.
“I think people should consistently look for ways to better themselves,” Sattler said.
Senior Psychology major Jess Evans has her own opinions on why people wait until the New Year to dedicate their time to bettering themselves.
“I think people make new years resolutions because a change in year represents something hopeful- a fresh start. The New Year puts a concrete date on when you should ditch old habits and take up better ones,” Evans said.
Many Capital students are jumping on the train towards a healthier lifestyle after coming back from winter break. The Cap Center is teeming with life as students hit the elliptical machines and take advantage of all the workout facilities Capital has to offer. Freshman Katie Cullen describes why she made the choice to get into shape.
“I want to be more in shape. That was my goal over all for college, but I kind of got out of the habit of it during first semester. Also, I’m going to Florida for Spring Break so I want to look good,” Cullen said.
But as quickly as the number of attendees to the Cap Center rises, it will inevitably fall even faster.
One major problem people have is a lack of motivation. While one may say it is the person’s lack of will power that contributes to their failure, there is more to the problem than it seems.
Cullen admits that there are times when she almost slips up on her resolution.
“It’s easy to start it and say that you are going to do it, but then actually following through gets hard because people would rather lie in bed and go on the computer or watch TV. You just get lazy and it sort of becomes an additional chore,” she said.
People also don’t take into account how hard it will be to change their ways and tend to stop trying to accomplish their goals when they become difficult.
“It’s hard to stick to resolutions because humans are creatures of habit, and especially because most people try to make drastic changes. Instead of easing off habits like eating junk food, people make resolutions to go cold turkey and usually fail,” Evans said.
One thing that has made working out easier for Cullen is setting up a schedule she forces herself to follow. “I work out every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday even if I don’t want to. I make my friends come with me as well so that we can all do the resolution together!”
Having a support system is important when it comes to reaching long-term goals. Knowing that there are other people who are striving for the same goal makes it easier to stay committed. Besides bringing friends along for the ride, Evans offers other recommendations on how one can stick to their resolution.
“Research how others have stuck to resolutions like yours and adapt their habits to fit you. Above all, be patient with yourself! Changing takes time,” Evans said.
While taking the steps to physically achieve one’s goals, mental preparation is important as well. One suggestion Evans gave was to overcome the fear of failure and the tendency to not believe in oneself.
“Having a healthy sense of self-esteem and a strong resolve is something that many people struggle with, and that usually isn’t conducive to keeping resolutions,” Evans said.
Whether it is something difficult like losing weight or something simple like getting enough sleep at night, there will be struggles. There are many different ways to prepare to stay focused and confident in achieving any goal. Making those goals into reality just takes perseverance, a group of supportive friends, and a little bit of will power.
