{"id":403711,"date":"2024-01-02T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-02T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=403711"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"At-stroke-of-midnight-New-Year-gives-clean-slate-for-long-elusive-resolutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/At-stroke-of-midnight-New-Year-gives-clean-slate-for-long-elusive-resolutions\/","title":{"rendered":"At stroke of midnight, New Year gives clean slate for long-elusive resolutions"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK (AP)\u2014<\/strong>It\u2019s an annual end-of-year exercise in futility for many. But a clean slate awaits at the stroke of midnight for the next round of resolutions.<\/p>\n

From the first spray of fireworks to the closing chorus of \u201cAuld Lang Syne\u201d 366 days into the future\u20142024 is a leap year\u2014it could be the year for finally achieving long-elusive goals, fulfilling aspirations and being resolute on all those New Year resolutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs humans, we are creatures that aspire,\u201d said Omid Fotuhi, a social psychologist who is a motivation and performance researcher.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that we have goals, the fact that we want to set goals is just a manifestation of that internal and almost universal desire to want to stretch, to want to reach, to want to expand and grow,\u201d said Fotuhi, the director of learning innovation at Western Governors University Labs and a research associate at the University of Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Year\u2019s resolutions are one of those ways in which we do that,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s something very liberating about a fresh start. Imagine starting on a blank canvas. Anything is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

If so, could this be the year to run a marathon, vanquish (or make peace with) old foes such as the bathroom scale and a thickening waist? Maybe learn Mandarin or register to vote, and actually vote? So many questions, and so much time to delay.<\/p>\n

Tim Williams used to issue himself a panoply of resolutions: lose weight, drink less, exercise more and yada yada.<\/p>\n

Now, he doesn\u2019t bother.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past, I would make them, and I would fail or give up on them or whatever,\u201d said Williams, a part-time resident of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.<\/p>\n

Carla Valeria Silva de Santos, a Florida transplant from Brazil, wants to learn to play the guitar. A native Portuguese speaker, she wants to learn Spanish and improve her English.<\/p>\n

With any resolution, she said, the ultimate goal is \u201cto improve your life and be in peace with yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Josh Moore, another Fort Lauderdale resident, sees things in line with the natural philosopher Sir Isaac Newton and physics. For every action there must be an equal reaction.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you do something like eat a bunch of candy or a bunch of desserts at a holiday party, go run,\u201d he said while interrupting a jog with his dog. \u201cMaybe you went out drinking too much and you might have a hangover. But then next day when you\u2019re feeling better, go to the gym.\u201d<\/p>\n

Too many people are too soft on themselves, he posited. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to actually hold yourself accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Resolutions don\u2019t have to be big, grandiose or overly ambitious, Fotuhi said.<\/p>\n

Even it they are, he said value should not exclusively be derived from the achievement but also be measured by what you become by trying to better yourself.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoals are only there to serve a function to get you started,\u201d Fotuhi said. \u201cIf they don\u2019t do that, then maybe that\u2019s not the appropriate goal for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, it is a time to recalibrate goals and expectations, he said, adding that some people hang on to outdated goals for way too long.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you set a goal that\u2019s overly ambitious, that doesn\u2019t have the effect of getting you excited and making you believe that it\u2019s possible, then maybe you should think about a goal that\u2019s a little bit more within your reach\u2014starting with a 5k for instance, then moving up to 10K,\u201d Fotuhi said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2024 glasses are displayed ahead of New Year\u2019s Eve in Times Square, Friday, Dec. 29, 2023, in New York.<\/p>\n

-AP
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