New years’ resolutions and the student experience

With January 2026 (scarily) already over, now seems like the perfect time to evaluate our New Year’s resolutions. New Year’s resolutions feel like a feature of modern life, but in reality, the tradition stretches back nearly 4000 years, to the Ancient Babylonians, who were amongst the first cultures to mark the new year with rituals of starting afresh. The moment that truly began the tradition was the declaration by a Babylonian king in the first millennium BC that he would be a better ruler. This might have actually happened, but nevertheless, it doesn’t seem to matter, as proclamations of self-improvement are now emblematic of a new year beginning.

It is clear that, as a species, the new year triggers a kind of instinct for renewal, betterment, and goal-setting. But how effective really is this

Other cultures, such as Ancient Rome, gave us New Year’s traditions such as restocking the house with food, spring cleaning, and, most importantly, that the first day of the year is January 1. In early America, diary entries have been found in which Puritan citizens have ‘resolved’ to sin less in the coming year. It is clear that, as a species, the new year triggers a kind of instinct for renewal, betterment, and goal-setting. But how effective really is this? Are we putting too much pressure on ourselves? Have New Year’s resolutions gotten out of hand, too far from their origins of cleaning and gratitude?

I sent out a short survey to Warwick students, in the hopes that they could shed light on some of these questions. The results were incredibly varied. New Year’s resolutions continue to be a common undertaking amongst Warwick students today – no one responded that they “never” make one or haven’t made one before. However, there was more discrepancy in the type of resolution-making students are engaging in, its effectiveness, and their feelings towards the process.

It is no surprise that students are choosing to focus on resolutions aimed at improving their mental and physical health, as this will also benefit their academic and future job prospects

Resolutions were largely focused on physical/mental health, with work and academia taking a close second and third place, respectively. This is very representative of the student population as a whole, with many of our concerns being futurity-based, which can cause strain on our health. An anonymous survey, conducted in 2022 by the charity Student Minds, found that 57% of participants “self-reported a mental health issue”, compared to the 5.8% of students who disclosed a mental health issue to their university in the academic year 2022/23. The fact the numbers are higher when students are allowed to remain anonymous speaks to a wider student mental health crisis than we can see on the surface. It is no surprise that students are choosing to focus on resolutions aimed at improving their mental and physical health, as this will also benefit their academic and future job prospects.

The specific resolutions people have made for 2026 varied hugely, but there were some commonalities between them. Notably: consistent fitness, less screen time, being more mindful with money, finding time for hobbies, and being kind to ourselves and to others. These are all goals that are largely abstract – how do we measure the amount of kindness? – and long-term. I wanted to know how students felt they had stuck to these goals so far, how well they saw themselves continuing to stick to them, and how helpful they have found setting resolutions for themselves.

With such objectively mediocre ratings, I wondered: why do we bother making resolutions at all

On average, students responded to the question: “How likely do you think it is that you achieve your resolution(s)?” with a 6.77 out of 10. They rated themselves at a 6.08/10 for how well they have stuck to their goals so far, and rated the helpfulness of New Year’s resolutions at 5.87/10. With such objectively mediocre ratings, I wondered: why do we bother making resolutions at all?

My participants provided valuable insights on this. Some responses that stuck out to me included: “[A resolution is an] extremely valuable ritual of self-improvement for me, even if it’s soundly failed, I feel I wouldn’t attempt self-improvement otherwise”, and: “My resolutions are based on things I am excited about, making sure I don’t lose what makes me happy.” There seems to be a general consensus that resolutions aren’t helpful only on the basis of achievement, but that it is the attitude involved in goal-setting and in trying to achieve something that people see as a success in itself.

One participant wrote that it made more sense for them to set goals at the beginning of an academic year, instead, this felt like more of a new beginning for students

On the other hand, others mentioned that January feels like the wrong time to be making resolutions. It may be the beginning of the calendar year, but it is a very busy time in the middle of the academic year. Some participants felt that any goals set in January were doomed before they began due to a heavy academic workload, not allowing for wider self-improvement efforts. One participant wrote that it made more sense for them to set goals at the beginning of an academic year, instead, this felt like more of a new beginning for students. Perhaps when students move out of academic settings, there will be a stronger focus on January as a time to reset and look forward.

I also wanted to know whether students who had set goals this year had also set goals last year, and, if so, how successful they’d been, and whether anything about their attitude to resolutions had changed between January 2025 and 2026.

Those who did succeed in their “big” goals described immediately making a plan alongside their resolution to ensure they stayed on target

I noticed a general pattern of students realising that their 2025 goals had been “too generic” and “too big”, which meant they had struggled to stay motivated and see signs of their success. Those who did succeed in their “big” goals described immediately making a plan alongside their resolution to ensure they stayed on target. The more achievable goals, overall, seem to be those broken down into small steps. One that stood out to me was this: “I chose to listen to one new album a week, which I loved because it didn’t seem like a vague, scary goal and was actually very achievable, and also gave me a lot more new music to listen to.” Altering a goal from, for example, “I am going to listen to 52 new albums this year”, to being just one a week is a great way to find a goal that you can stick to. Additionally, choosing something like exploring music or audiobooks is good for mental health and, importantly, does not require you to sacrifice precious time you might usually dedicate to academics or other necessary tasks. Personally, I like to listen to books and music whilst washing up or cleaning. Then, I am finding time for my hobbies, prioritising my mental health, and managing to make those non-negotiable parts of life a little less mundane.

Overall, from gathering information from other students and reflecting on my own experiences with New Year’s resolutions, I have found that our attitudes seem to have become to dream big but plan small. By that I mean that, if your big goal is to achieve a first, your small plans would include things like keeping attendance high and not leaving assignments to the last minute. The consensus is also that January is an arbitrary time for setting goals – if you have something you want to achieve, why wait until the New Year to put your plan into action? However, many also agreed that, although it is fundamentally just another day, it is motivating to feel you should be goal-setting along with everyone else at the start of the year. At the end of the day, though, especially when we are often making goals to prioritise our mental health, as my respondents suggested, we have to remember it’s never that deep.