By Ian C. Beck ’12
THE ROUNDUP

How many people want to be a better person?

How many people want to work out more?

How many of people want to stop cursing or put more effort into school or try to get a job?

My guess is a lot.

It’s still early in 2011, probably still early enough for most people to be holding on to the New Year’s resolutions they dedicated to make.

But in a few months, by the end of the school year most likely, resolutions to make yourself better will be a distant memory.

Few people, if any, are actually able to hold onto their resolutions’ throughout the entire year.

Research by Proactivechange.com said that just 46 percent of people carry their resolutions past six months.

If this is the case, is it even worth putting in the effort for a cause that is inevitably doomed to fail?

At this point the answer is no.

Not because the intent behind one’s resolution is poor but because there are many more things, more effective things, that people can do to hail in the New Year without dedicating themselves to a goal that will fade in their memories, as it does every year.

Rather than come up with a New Year’s resolution and forget about it a few months down the line, people need to find something that motivates them better than a date on a calendar.

The allure of a New Year’s resolution is that it is just that, a new year, a time for change and improvement of oneself. But a few months down the line when the year is no longer new, the motivation fades and therefore the resolution fails.

So in place of a resolution, find something that can get you inspired to improve yourself, not just once a year but all year long.