The New Year 2024 is finally here! Lots of people are determined to change for the better and complete things they have wanted to do. As you may have guessed, New Year’s resolutions! Try not to get too enthusiastic since they are useless. A few of the reasons are that you make them, forget about them, and never get around to them. Who cares if it's a new year, you should always be striving to do whatever it is you want to accomplish. What if we never knew when the new year came, nobody would care about these. However, because the "New Year" is such a huge deal, many attempt to stick to their resolutions, then not even a month later saying, "Ah, I'll do them later in the year," and end up totally forgetting about them. ​​Back in 2022 I thought to myself and made a few resolutions. I don’t even remember what they are, and best believe I never completed them either. You should always set goals for yourself, not just because it’s the new year. The Washington Post states, “New Year’s resolutions have a bad reputation, at least in part, because people tend to grade themselves pass or fail when, in reality, they’ve made key improvements in various areas of their lives by mostly sticking to a resolution, experts say.” If you don't accomplish your goals, you might get demotivated and unable to take any action because you think you're a failure. It's a new year, therefore you don't need to establish objectives and inspire yourself. That's what you should always be doing in order to fulfill your dream. Statistics from the Washington Post state, “Estimates vary, but a 2019 YouGov survey of nearly 1,200 U.S. adults showed that about 4 in 10 made New Year’s resolutions. Of those surveyed who made resolutions, about 16 percent kept all their resolutions and about 44 percent kept at least some but not all of them by the end of the year — meaning nearly 2 out of 3 people achieved some level of success.” Briefly, very few individuals make resolutions, and of those who do, the majority never even follow through, leaving those who do somewhat unsuccessful. A behavioral scientist, Milkman says, “New Year’s resolutions are not especially different from other goal-setting opportunities.”As previously stated, regular goals and New Year's resolutions are exactly the same. Nothing absurd is going on. Setting goals on occasion can help you stay motivated and strive for something every morning rather than setting big goals once a year and never following through. Why aren’t we more successful at keeping our New Year’s resolutions? An article from verywellmind answers this question, “Some reasons include the idea that we're thinking too big, we're not considering the 'why' behind them, and the fact that we may not be ready for change.”Everybody wants to set big new goals for the coming year, but they never think through what has to be done to achieve these goals or how to adapt, so they just give up. The foundation's wellness center writes, “Typically, it’s because they are unrealistic and too broad. Saying “I will get in shape,” for example, is nebulous and has no measurable outcome. Small goals, such as “lose five pounds” or “lift weights three times a week” are more attainable because they are concrete, seem more achievable and are probably easier to reach because of that.” As the new year approaches, everyone is only considering the big picture and what they need to change, not realizing how much they actually need to change or what they really want to achieve. The Wellness Center also states, “In fact, New Year’s resolutions don’t typically come from a positive mental place. Focusing on what you feel may be “wrong” with your life can be detrimental – especially if you don’t fulfill those resolutions.” If your New Year's resolutions don't work out, you could start to feel like a "failure" or give up on establishing goals for yourself going forward. The foundation Wellness Center writes, “When most people don’t make good on those resolutions, how healthy is it to continue making them? In a way, you are setting yourself up for failure. Why let your self-esteem take the hit? It could even bring on anxiety and depression… and you certainly don’t need that.” Bringing up the idea that not fulfilling your goals may depress you mentally once more. Goals are supposed to lift you up, not bring you down. These thoughts and opinions all demonstrate why making resolutions for the new year is useless. With that being said, my point is not that you shouldn't set goals; rather, it is that you should work constantly to accomplish your goals at any time of the year, not only at the beginning of the year.