New Year’s resolutions are a popular tradition. “New year, new me” is a common phrase you’ll hear a lot during this time. Funnily enough, no one ever finishes them. How many people do you or I know that fall off from their resolutions after the first couple weeks or days of the new year?

I’ve seen many bemoan resolutions, saying how they’re useless and a way for people to feel like they’re improving while just remaining stagnant. While I see where these people are coming from, screw that. Many resolutions may fall through the cracks, but the influx of resolution-goers can help inspire a select few to forever change their lifestyles for the better.

First off, only nine percent of Americans see their resolutions fully. That’s not a great stat. So yeah, it’s easy to argue against the usefulness of resolutions. Why even bother with them if the follow-through rate is so minuscule? Well, it’s not that simple. I am always going to advocate for positive change. While the positive change here may be small, when one dives into the deeper numbers and finds out what’s really going on, it makes for a much stronger case. Get your calculators out, there’s going to be a lot of numbers here.

In the United States, only 38.5 percent of adults actually make resolutions. I used to think everyone, or at least most people, made them. Nowadays, that’s pretty uncommon. I believe many people nowadays have a bit of a defeatist mindset when it comes to resolutions. Resolutions have a negative stigma of being very temporary. I feel like this has a lot to do with the seasonal nature of them. Resolutions come around once a year, and the truth is, many people just have trouble sticking to it. Not a ton of people are making them anyways. If it were a social media trend on the other hand, then maybe more would participate.

Perhaps, more resolutions are being substituted away for people trying to make a permanent, year-round change through other self-improvement techniques. Over 40 percent of adults in the United States make use of self-improvement materials. That isn’t necessarily limited to books like “how to be popular for dummies.” Self-improvement content is so vast and expansive in our modern age. It’s a fad in its own right. I take part in it for Pete’s sake. I’m crazy about anything related to self-improvement. Whether it’s videos regarding workout techniques, tips with dieting or strategies as to how to save and invest money, self-improvement is a wide umbrella. One could argue that this way is for the better. Resolutions are quite temporary, they come and go, but committing to a positive lifestyle change — THAT is what will make long-lasting change. Right?

The answer is yes, but also no. While many people let go of their resolutions as time goes on, not everyone does. A resolution can be fleeting, but a commitment to self-improvement should be a year-round thing. If you ask me, out of one thousand people, if only a handful of these people stick to their plans and continue their new, healthy lifestyle of improvement, it’s a win. Yes, it would be a lot better if more people stuck to their goals, but that’s not necessarily realistic. In a perfect world, everyone does their best to improve as much as they can, but this is the next best, most realistic thing.

Nicolas Scagnelli is a senior majoring in English.