Whether a person’s resolution revolves around academics, sports, or other personal growth, each of our goals can help us meet 2025 head-on. However, from a sampling of interviews, we wondered: who actually follows through with their resolutions throughout the year? To find out, we talked to various Lakeside students about their previous New Year’s resolutions and their success rate.
From the diverse selection of students we interviewed, there was a broad spectrum of goals for the new year. From specific resolutions such as practicing juggling a soccer ball to more overarching ideas like incorporating more gratitude into their lives, each individual had their own unique idea of how they wanted to better themselves. However, the most considerable resolution category we saw was the idea of balance. An example of this was Raeye S. ’27’s hope, where he stated, “I want to be able to balance my interests, academics, and friendships equally.” Another example expressed by many students was balancing homework between classes or trying not to excessively procrastinate on assignments. Although some resolutions were more ambitious than others, each interviewee seemed confident in their abilities to complete the goals in the new year.
Yet, surprisingly, not a single student we interviewed had succeeded in fulfilling their resolution from the previous year. But why is this? This revelation — among a community of high-achieving students — certainly comes as a shock. According to sophomore Mekai H. ’27, “It’s hard to follow through with New Year’s resolutions because [he] almost always forgets them immediately.” Similarly, senior Sarah S. ’25 explained, “I usually get busy with academics and sports and gradually spend less and less time on the resolution until I’ve completely abandoned it. I begin the goal with lots of motivation; however, it often doesn’t last.” Without the sustained motivation to complete these goals, they quickly become pushed aside and forgotten. Another common issue with people’s goals is how vague they are, discouraging people from prioritizing their resolutions and making sufficient progress. Junior Indigo R. ’26 felt this way: “Typically I set a very general goal like working hard, which is so vague. It’s hard to maintain that [goal] and put weight and importance to the resolution.” Without a steadfast source of motivation or a specific goal to work towards these aspirations often become sidelined, fading away into the background of students’ other responsibilities.
This leads us to an unexpected question: what’s the point of New Year’s resolutions if they are left unattended by virtually everyone? Is it a worthwhile method for bettering yourself or a timed-out tradition that should be left in the past? Raeye S. weighed in with his opinion on why New Year’s resolutions are often ineffective. “As I get older, I find that my previous resolutions have been super unrealistic,” he shared, joining all the other students we interviewed. But, Raeye’s ideas were not all pessimistic. He had the interesting thought: “it has been more efficient to work on myself day by day than to wait to make a goal at the start of the New Year.”
We began the writing process of this article with the intent of composing an uplifting article about how Lakesiders work to better themselves each year via New Year’s resolutions. But after hearing about the experiences of these students, we concluded that perhaps Lakeside students should collectively embrace a new resolution: let go of fleeting, annual ambitions and instead prioritize self-reflection and community growth through deliberate actions.
