Everybody has heard the phrase “New Year, New Me.” And with the start of a new year, people are setting resolutions for what they hope to get out of 2021. Resolutions date back to the ancient Babylonians who would make sacrifices and promise good behavior to the god Janus. We may not set resolutions for the god Janus, but we set them for ourselves. Kylie Eaton (12) says, “My New Year’s resolution this year is to stop procrastinating because I think that it’ll help me get more out of the year.” When asked what his New Year’s resolutions are for 2021, Adan Casas (10) says he wants “Better grades and more sleep.” Asher Schroader (10) says, “I just want to make it through 2021 in one piece.” 

Studies have been done to investigate ways to make resolutions more likely to happen. The first thing to do is make them realistic. For example, if you want to cut out junk food you don’t have to cut it out completely. You can gradually work junk food out of your diet like eating it every other day to once every three days. Second thing is to do one thing at a time. Don’t try to get everything under control. Choose one thing and stick to it and once you have one under control move on to the next. Lastly, do not limit or restrict yourself. Accept that you will probably break your resolution, just don’t give up after failing once. Once you fail, you can start fresh and gradually learn to maintain yourself and fight the temptations.