With January just wrapping up, the big question is whether people have stayed true to their desired New Year’s Resolutions. Have peoples’ memberships already been cancelled? Did the Skittles and Starburst come back into the pantries already?

Most people quit their New Year’s resolutions on the second Friday of January, a date commonly known as “Quitter’s Day.” This day is the point where 80-91% of resolutions fail according to multiple different studies. This year, that date was January 9th. People are usually overly ambitious with the goals they set on January 1st, resulting in their failed resolutions. The most common failed resolutions deal with weight loss, dieting, and working out. Mainly, this is because this goal does not just require physical strength, but also mental and emotional. A person can’t just easily change their whole lifestyle in one night; it takes time.

The people who are still succeeding in their New Year’s resolutions are the ones that made their goals manageable and took small steps along the way. For example, people who chose to just walk 20 minutes a day instead of just saying they were going to exercise more are more likely to still be doing their resolutions. Also, people can’t forget to celebrate any accomplishments that they have made. That is the most rewarding and enjoyable part of doing the resolution.

Two people from Moon Area High School have had completely different outcomes with their New Years Resolutions. Junior Olivia DeGori describes that her experience was “more accomplishing” than any other year. She says that “I am focused and determined to eat healthier and workout this year because of lacrosse season coming up.” For lacrosse, no matter what position people play, it is very important to stay healthy and to build healthy habits prior to the season starting. However, Norah McSwigan had the opposite reaction when asked about how they are doing on their goals they set. She said, “I wanted to eat healthier, but I work at Seven Brew so that made that goal almost impossible.” Norah described how she only set the large goal of eating healthier but did not take into account that she should have set small goals instead.

Regardless of whether people have or haven’t completed their goals they have set for this year, there is always next year to set new goals. Always keep in mind to make the goals small and realistic.