As many people see the new year as a “fresh start” or a time to improve themselves, a traditional New Year’s Resolution may be made in order to achieve that. But the question is, how many people actually stick to their resolution.

Resolutions might seem like a trigger to remind people that they can be a better person in the upcoming year or to remind people that they need to continually improve themselves, but some do not not believe in setting a goal in the first place.

Some people think of  new year’s resolutions as an excuse to put off what they need to improve in their lives. Because of this, goals won’t even be set. If you really wanted to change something about yourself, then you shouldn’t have to wait for the new year to come around to do so.

According to one of the forbes website writers Dan Diamond, (www.forbes.com), only eight percent of Americans achieve their New Year’s goals. Goals that are typically completed are losing weight and saving money.

With other priorities and wants in the picture as well, sticking to your goal could be very challenging. Keeping your goal tangible, and achievable makes everything easier.

Setting an unrealistic and non-measurable goal is practically setting yourself up for failure. Not all resolutions have to be drastic, as most are simple and to the point. The term “SMART goals” is a method many use in order to give a guideline for how to achieve the goal. A S.M.A.R.T. goal is defined as a specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused, and time-bound goal.

Resolutions within our newspaper staff have been made as well. A few were training pets better, drink more water, and lose weight. Overall, the resolutions were not fully accomplished. Even with that, I believe that you should still set one to motivate yourself. Everyone can always better themselves in someway.