Many find it a pointless end-of-year exercise. But midnight brings a fresh slate for resolutions.
From the first spray of fireworks to the concluding chorus of “Auld Lang Syne” 366 days into the future—2024 being a leap year—it may be the year you finally achieve long-held objectives, realize dreams, and stick to your New Year pledges.
Social psychologist and motivation and performance researcher Omid Fotuhi observed, “As humans, we are creatures that aspire.”
The fact that we have goals, the fact that we want to set goals is just a manifestation of that internal and almost universal desire to stretch, to want to reach, to want to expand and grow,” said Fotuhi, Western Governors University Labs director of learning innovation and University of Pittsburgh research associate.
“New Year’s resolutions are one of those ways,” he remarked. “A fresh start is liberating. Consider a blank canvas. Anything is possible. Could 2018 be the year to run a marathon, defeat the bathroom scale, and slim down? Maybe study Mandarin or register and vote? So many questions, so much time to postpone.
Tim Williams used to make several resolutions: reduce weight, drink less, exercise more, etc. “In the past, I would make them, and I would fail or give up on them or whatever,” said Fort Lauderdale part-time resident Williams.
Brazilian-born Florida resident Carla Valeria Silva de Santos aspires to play guitar. She speaks Portuguese and wants to learn Spanish and English.
The ultimate purpose of any resolve, she added, is “to improve your life and be in peace with yourself.”