Written by Katelyn Dingman

It’s easy enough to make a New Year’s resolution, but can you keep up with your goal? 
The tradition of creating a New Year’s resolution dates back to ancient Roman times.  Janus, a mythical kind of the Roman Empire, became an ancient symbol for resolution. In the early traditions of new years, the majority of Romans looked for forgiveness from their enemies in their resolutions.  Although the tradition of establishing a New Year’s resolution has changed over time, the basic motive behind the New Year’s resolution has remained consistent. 
Common modern New Year’s resolutions include quitting smoking and becoming healthier.  With the spring quickly approaching, we begin to wonder who has kept up with their resolutions and who has fallen off the wagon?
Gurvinder Mundi, a third-year environmental engineering student at the University of Guelph, vowed in the new year to stop eating fast food, but admitted to giving up on his New Year’s resolution after about a week and a half. 
“It’s difficult for me to find time to cook full meals and go grocery shopping because of my course load,” Mundi said.
Since Mundi spends the majority of his time on campus during the week, he is often tempted by fast food.
“When I’m on campus, it’s cheaper to buy fast food,” he said. “But when I was living at my house in Brampton, I ate mainly home-cooked meals.”
Schoolwork is likely to be the falling off point for the majority of resolution-keeping university students. If it’s difficult for us to find time to cook and go grocery shopping, how are we supposed to find time to make other healthy choices, like going to the gym?
A somewhat more unique resolution came from another student, who, for obvious reasons, elected to remain anonymous. 
“I vowed to initiate sex more,” she claimed, emphatically.
The anonymous student said that before making her resolution, she wanted it to be her boyfriend initiating the sex, to make her feel as though she was desirable to him.
“I know it’s silly,” she admitted. “Because I know he loves me and it’s self-deprecating to get into a pattern where my opinion of myself is based on how often my boyfriend initiated sex.” 
Up until this point, the anonymous initiator indicated that she has been keeping up with her New Year’s resolution and I – along with her boyfriend, I’m sure – hope that she will continue to do so. 
It is important for us to make New Year’s resolutions that improve our sense of self, whether it be body image or self-esteem. 
There are many reasons why we fail to keep our New Year’s resolutions. It is important in creating them that you adapt your resolution if you are using one from a previous year.  If you didn’t keep your resolution from last year, why would you keep it this year – something was obviously off. 
It also makes it easier to keep your resolution if you don’t have excessively high expectations for yourself. Tell your friends and family about your resolution so that they can help you to achieve your goals. 
Following New Year’s resolutions is rarely easy, so it is important that you reward yourself in your resolution. If your resolution is to save money, reward yourself by going to the movies with friends at the end of the month when you see your improved cash flow.

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