Why don’t we just put them into practice?

Let’s take some time this weekend and write down New Year’s resolutions.

AHN CHAK-HEEThe author is the head of the global cooperation team at the JoongAng Ilbo. “2024 is just around the corner!” It is already the end of the year. The phrase “the New Year is right around the corner” gives a feeling of anticipation and dread to some people. One of the main causes for this feeling is New Year’s resolutions, which always put us to the test.

Media reports say half of the population in the United States and United Kingdom are determined to become better by losing weight, quitting drinking or smoking, or saving money.

The leading U.S. economic magazine Forbes recently conducted a survey. According to the survey, 48 percent of 1,000 adult men and women in America singled out “improved fitness” as their top New Year’s resolution; 36 percent pointed to improving their mental health. That is a change from last year’s survey. Last year, 39 percent chose “improved fitness” while 45 percent picked “mental health.” Perhaps, they wanted to boost their weakened mental health due to the Covid-19 pandemic last year.

The respondents listed 14 goals aimed at creating more stable, healthier and happier lives — such as improved finances (38 percent), improved diet (32 percent) and making more time for loved ones (25 percent). People generally want the same basic things.

The problem is that people give up too soon. Many people feel embarrassed when they get hungover on the first day of the year after New Year’s Eve celebrations. But the beginning of the new year is the best time to make up your mind.

In 1989, American psychologist John Norcross wanted to find out how effective Americans’ New Year’s resolutions would be. The study periodically tracked 300 men and women who participated in the study, for up to two years. He found that their resolutions made at the beginning of the year were 10 times more likely to succeed than those made at different times of the year, despite all the twists and turns. He concluded that the boundary set by a new year certainly makes a difference.

Thinking about New Year’s resolutions at the end of the Year of the Black Rabbit, 2023, and the start of the Year of the Blue Dragon, 2024, means preparing for wings of new hope. To become the better self that the vulnerable self has always dreamed of, we drop the bad habits and harbor hopes to progress to more satisfying and happier lives. It doesn’t matter if it fizzles. Let’s take some time this weekend and write down New Year’s resolutions. Why don’t we just put it into practice?