by Hae Young Yoo

Go to the gym every day. No more relationships. Get better grades. No more junk food. Be a better person. Every January 1, people start the new year with a clean slate. By the end of January, many those clean slates are gone.

“I made the resolution to be more active and try to focus on happiness, versus other things,” said Olivia Newell, a student at UMass Amherst, “I partially kept my resolutions, but after a while, I got too lazy.”

But maybe it’s not the people with the problem. Maybe it’s just the wrong time of year. According to the article Dr. Pauline W. Wallin, January 1 might be the worst time for people to restrict themselves.

In her article “Why Don’t We Keep New Year’s Resolutions?”  Wallin writes that people self-indulge in December more than any other month of the year. With all the holidays, get-togethers and parties, people allow themselves that “little bit more,” a lot more often and make the excuse to stray from their normal dieting, drinking and exercising routines. To make ourselves feel better, Wallin says “we impose a mental stopping point.” That point: New Year’s Day. And so begins our new year’s resolutions.

 Change is hard, but the results are almost always worth it.  Wallin suggests that it is hard to keep resolutions because most of them are punishments for bad behavior  and people expect too big of a change. With a new year’s motivation behind them, people often try to act in ways that differ significantly from how they normally would, and in the end have trouble keeping up with these unfamiliar actions.

When people set important, but vague goals, the brain has difficulty figuring out what needs to be done to achieve them. According to Wallin, people are more successful when they set smaller goals that prompt clearer and specific actions in order to achieve their big goal.

 “I decided I would try to do better in math last year, and I did end up keeping my resolution and doing well by taking it one test at a time,”  said Nicholas Papas, a UMass Amherst freshman.

This January 1, when you’re  thinking of your next big change, keep these tips in mind to stick to your resolution and make this your best year yet.

Be realistic: Try to make resolutions that have a real possibility of being successful.

Stay motivated: Do whatever it takes to keep going. Make posters with inspirational quotes, leave yourself notes of encouragement, fill in a calendar or make a to-do list. Imagine yourself conquering your resolution and making it a part of your everyday life.

Help each other out: To make keeping resolutions a little easier and more fun, make one with a friend. Support and push each other while sharing your experiences and progress.

Allow mistakes: Accept that you are not perfect and that you will cheat on your diet with a cookie or skip a gym day to stay in bed. Don’t be too hard on yourself but try to stick to the routine of keeping your resolution as best as you can.

Reward yourself: Acknowledge your accomplishments and look back to see how far you’ve come. Be proud and happy with yourself for following through with something that is important to you.

Hae Young Yoo can be reached at [email protected]