How students carry goals past the new year: Reset, not quit, New Year’s resolutions

By Aubrey Dillehay

Staff Writer

For many Trevecca students, the new year started with big goals, but by the middle of February, those resolutions are already challenging. 

“Sometimes to students a goal might sound good, but it doesn’t feel like it’s adding a lot of value at that moment in their life. It is hard to prioritize a goal that you feel doesn’t add anything to your life realistically,” said Emily Stevens, a Trevecca counseling center staff member . 

New Year’s resolutions can be exciting at first, but for many Trevecca students, academic pressures, work, and daily responsibilities make them hard to maintain. Breaking goals into small, realistic steps focusing on consistency, and practicing self-compassion can help prevent burnout and keep progress sustainable, said Stevens. 

“It helps to think about, ‘What are some ways I can do this? How can I break this down into small sustainable goals?,’ ” said Stevens.

For some students, it’s hard to work their goals into their everyday life, making it hard for them to maintain their goals and stay on track.

“My goal this year was to start going to bed earlier around 9:30pm and my biggest challenge with this and also the reason why my goal is not working is because of school and sports,” said Brenna Randall a freshman track and volleyball player at Trevecca. 

Many students put too much pressure on themselves when it comes to the goals they set for themselves, causing them to lose motivation before they even get started, said Stevens. 

“People put a lot of pressure on themselves, which can lead to a lot of dread and make getting started even harder,” said Stevens.

Some people like the idea of a fresh start to get them going with a new goal. This is the motivation they need to get started and they start by doing little things and setting little reminders to get them in the habit. 

Trevecca students are not alone in this, Paw Research Center “New Years resolutions: Who makes them and why” says, about 49% of adults ages 18-29 make at least one goal at the start of the year but by the end of January 13% of them kept their goals. 

“I have a notification on my watch and at 9:30pm it goes off and says it’s time for bed,” said Randall.

Falling off of New Year’s resolutions is a lot more common than people believe. A lot of people just don’t know what to do to help them get started and restart if they have fallen off, said Stevens. 

“Having cues and little rewards for yourself along the way,” said Stevens. “The reward can sometimes look more like you want to get up early and exercise in the morning, and then that frees you up time to make breakfast and have coffee, where that may not have been something you were able to do so it’s a reward in itself.”

Sometimes reaching goals is not just about going to do something and adding it to an everyday routine, sometimes it’s about being willing to give up something in order to make time for something new., said Stevens.

Asking for help when struggling to meet a goal is okay and Trevecca offers different things to help.

“The Center of Student Success has some academic coaching. They are very helpful with academic goals and are good at helping you make realistic goals by working them into your everyday life,” said Stevens.