Are new year's resolutions bad?

Consider a resolution such as losing weight. There is nothing inherently wrong with setting a New Year's resolution. Where things can get problematic is when you do it from a place of pressure or obligation, when you feel like you have to establish a New Year's resolution to get on the bandwagon like everyone else. People make New Year's resolutions, such as quitting alcohol, losing weight, quitting bad habits, etc.

However, not many realize the lasting impact of not following New Year's resolutions. There are a lot of tips on New Year's resolutions. But how much does it actually work? Is it a good idea to set resolutions at the beginning of the year? In this video, three Ascend editors, Kelsey Alpaio, Christine Liu and Elainy Mata, discuss five research-backed tactics to make New Year's resolutions work for you. If your New Year's resolution is to eat less, but you don't have a plan in place or even if you have a plan and it fails, it will damage your sense of self-worth.

The practice of making resolutions itself dates back to ancient Babylon, which made promises to its gods for the New Year, often related to concrete and easily achievable tasks, such as promising to return borrowed agricultural equipment. And to make meeting your New Year's resolution even easier, with a few weeks of occasional warm-up jogs, you won't start from scratch in January. Stay with us here, consider that the next few weeks will be a test for a habit to which you will start the New Year fully committed. But I thought about it and realized that the reason I don't like New Year's resolutions is because I make too many at the same time.

Here's how to identify the right solution to improve your life, create a plan for how to achieve it, and become part of the small group of people who achieve resolution. Dry January has substantial average effects, and even those who don't have a dry month are still likely to see benefits at six months, which is longer than most New Year's resolutions last. Both useless promises, such as “losing some weight or “writing a book,” and exaggerated commitments, such as “losing 20 pounds by early March or “becoming a New York Times best seller,” are bad New Year's resolutions. If you've tried (and haven't been able to) establish a New Year's resolution (or several) in the past, I know it can be hard to believe in yourself.

Whatever the reason, it surely makes us check if the New Year's resolution is a bad idea in its entirety. If you fall into the category of people who have made New Year's resolutions in the past and failed, then you would easily identify with this fact.

Nikki Gleisner
Nikki Gleisner

Amateur coffee advocate. Total food fan. Amateur social media scholar. Typical bacon evangelist. General bacon advocate.