Students who made New Year’s resolutions to exercise more or get better grades at school may have to try a little harder than that for their self-promises to stick.
Kimberly Angelo, a University graduate teaching fellow in the psychology department, said a study she conducted revealed that students who came into the experiment with previously crafted goals and could visualize their success were more likely to succeed in their New Year’s resolutions.
“A lot of (resolutions) are too vague,” Angelo said. “Many just make it their goal to ‘eat better.’ Goals should be more specific.”
When making career-oriented resolutions, Angelo said, people have to define what “better” is and define which actions to take to achieve these goals. Instead of vowing to go to the gym more or to eat better, it’s better to schedule specific times to go to the gym a few days a week and plan out a diet.
Angelo’s research — which looked at the relationship between goals and well-being — included a series of studies that tracked the short-term goals students have in three structured domains: nutrition, academia and Halloween. The last, she said, was “a fun goal that most students tend to make.”
Students were asked to create and accomplish these goals in two weeks, and Angelo and her partner checked in after the one and two week marks. They did not find what they expected.
They had hoped to discover that emotions influenced the success of accomplishing goals “and nothing seemed to predict who accomplished their goals” and who didn’t, Angelo said.
Angelo said that for many who don’t define specifics, New Year’s resolutions give a burst of energy that does not seem to last.
“It depends on the person, but a lot of resolutions that are made are notorious for failing and are given up by February,” Angelo said.
But Angelo said there are things students can do to increase their chances of success, such as picking goals that are easier to accomplish.
“If you want to change your diet, it’s not necessarily realistic,” Angelo said. “Know if you can succeed with (a resolution) or not, and turn it into something you can measure, into some way of deciding whether you have succeeded at the end of the day.
“It seems that when you are asked to define a goal you think about it more and try harder to succeed,” Angelo said.
But instead of trying harder, some just give up altogether.
“I didn’t make any resolutions this year,” University sophomore Stacy Sumoge said. “It seems pointless when most people drop them anyway.”
Among some of the most common resolutions Americans make are vows to lose weight, quit smoking and get a better job, according to USA.gov — but students don’t seem as inclined to change or get jobs in December as does the general public.
John Costello, University Food Service Director, found that the number of resumes handed in after the new year does not increase, but that could be due to the fall hiring season.
“The reality is, we have about 120 to 130 student employees in food services and are hired in the fall, and the majority stay throughout the school year,” Costello said. “There is always lighter hiring in the winter and spring.”
Another resolution that Costello doesn’t seem to see a difference in is improvement in job performance, even though this goal is another common one among Americans come January.
“Student job performance doesn’t do any worse after the new year, but I wouldn’t say it does any better either,” Costello said.
One observation Costello has seen in his time in food services is that January and February are some of the worst times for retail and food businesses — perhaps the reason why students aren’t inclined to apply for jobs during these months.
“From years of being in this business there are clear patterns about eating and drinking that make January and February slow times,” Costello said. “Summer is slow for the University, but in the real business world, people say they aren’t going to drink, they eat less and spend less money during this time. But fortunately for retailers, those resolutions don’t seem to last too long and people are back to their habits by March.”

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