A year is 365 days—the amount of time it takes for the Earth to orbit around the Sun once. And close to midnight on the last day of the year, many people sit down and write a list of resolutions for the New Year. This practice should be stopped altogether; there should be no such things as New Year’s resolutions.

Junior Bahador Shojaee said, “The whole point of New Year’s resolutions is to reflect upon your behavior in the previous years and try to resolve to fix it somehow.” The question is: how often do people stick with their resolutions for the entire year? Common New Year’s resolutions include working out, losing weight, and adopting a healthier and more balanced lifestyle. According to www.wjhg.com, the beginning of a new year is the busiest time for gyms and fitness centers because many people renew or get gym memberships with the intent to work out.

How many people stick to their resolution to go to the gym? A survey done by the U.S.government shows that 75 percent of people who resolve to go the gym at the start of the year drop out within the first week. Of those remaining, 64 percent last for a month. Only 46 percent of the remaining people make it to the six month mark.

Instead of waiting to make changes at the start of a new year, people should make lifestyle changes at a time when they’re ready to, not just when a new year comes around. An anonymous sophomore agreed. She said she did not make New Year’s resolutions because they are “things that are easily broken, like promises.”

Resolutions might work for some people, because the feeling of a fresh start at the beginning of the new year motivates them to change something about their life. But the resolutions made don’t focus on the right aspect of life, which is another reason why the practice of sitting down and creating this list of resolutions should be abolished altogether.

Many people make resolutions about working out, about getting healthier, about getting their finances organized once and for all, but where has the deeper reflection and analysis of one’s behavior gone? How come popular resolutions aren’t about donating to more charities, about achieving a higher awareness of the world around us and how incredibly lucky we are just to have a roof over our head, running water 24/7, or even a choice about what we want for breakfast?

Year after year we have these fantasies of who we will be at the end of the year, of what we will be like and how many pounds we will lose, but no thought is given to the deeper, reflective aspect of life. That, coupled with the lack of discipline and motivation most people seem to have, is exactly why we should no longer have this tradition of creating New Year’s resolutions.