New Year, new you by The Berkeley Beacon

Ringing in 2022

Features

CAMPBELL PARISH Magazine Editor KAYLA BUCK Head of Design LUCIA THORNE Editor-in-Chief

The new year is the perfect excuse for total selfreinvention— here’s how pg. 4

One of the most important things to remember about New Year’s resolutions is to do them at your own pace.

By Vivi Smilgius

All the Headaches and Hurdles of 2021 pg. 6

Here’s a chronological run-down of some of the most memorable and deplorable events of this past year.

By Dionna Santucci

New Year, New Diet. The Toxicity of Diet Culture pg. 11

But why do so many New Year’s Resolutions focus on weight loss?

The psychology and science behind New Year’s resolutions. do they really work? pg. 14

Do resolutions actually hold any merit? And if they do, why do we wait until Jan. 1 to make them?

MARCUS COCOVA Multimedia Managing Editor

By Rachel Hackan

B y S h a n n o n G a rr i d o

Any and all comments on articles can be directed to Magazine@BerkeleyBeacon.com Pitches can be emailed directly to the magazine editor at campbell@berkeleybeacon.com The only student newspaper of Emerson College. Editorially independent, Founded in 1947. 172 Tremont Street, Room 309 Boston, MA 02117 (617) 824-8687 Contact@BerkeleyBeacon.com

Front Cover: Kayla Buck Back Cover: Kayla Buck, Campbell Parish, and Juila Weinstock

CAMPBELL PARISH Operations Managing Editor

CAMILO FONSECA & SHANNON GARRIDO Content Managing Editors KAITLYN FEHR Chief Copy Editor DIONNA SANTUCCI RACHEL HACKAM VIVI SMILGIUS SHANNON GARRIDO Contributors

‘s Letter After a long year filled with jaw-dropping events and unforgettable memories, it’s now time to ring in 2022. In honor of New Year’s, the theme of our January edition of The Beacon Magazine is new year, new you. The cover, inspired by vision boards, reflects the visual goal setting and planning one might do to inspire change within themselves. We extend a very special thanks to the Iwasaki Library for donating their extra magazines to create the cover of this edition. New Year’s resolutions encourage people to be the bolder version of themselves; taking risks, trying new things, and discovering the person they want to become. Vivi Smilgius writes about how life is too short to waste time on selfdoubt, making the new year the perfect time for self-reinvention. On the other hand, while self-reinvention is desired by many this time of year, New Year’s resolutions statistically tend to fail: but why? Shannon Garrido analyzes the psychology behind New Year’s resolutions and whether or not they set one up for failure. Or are they an excuse for corporations to sell quick fixes and supplements? New Year’s resolutions, specifically ones regarding health and weight loss, tend to be among the most popular goals. And with advertisements on dieting and working out flooding the media that we consume, Rachel Hackman writes about the dangers of diet culture and the toxicity around it. After the wild year that was 2021, our cover story, written by Dionna Santucci, recaps all the moments that defined the past year, and the ones you may have forgotten. I want to extend a special thanks to Lucia Thorne, Kayla Buck, Vivi Smilgius, Shannon Garrido, Rachel Hackman, Dionna Santucci, Kaitlyn Fehr, and Jacob Ireland. This edition could not have been completed without all of your hard work and dedication.

Campbell Parish is the Operations Managing Editor & Magazine Editor for The Berkeley Beacon and a sophomore studying journalism. Photo courtsey of Miranda Nicusanti

I hope this edition inspires you to not procrastinate your goals for 2022, face your fears, take risks, and become the person you want to be. As cheesy as it sounds, I wish you all the very best this year and I hope you enjoy this edition of The Beacon Magazine. To fresh beginnings,

Campbell Parish

Features Chances are you’ll stick with at least one of your resolutions, which is better than none. At the end of the day, the worst place you could possibly end up is right back where you started— and you were already there anyway, so there’s no harm in exploring somewhere new. The far more challenging and monumental task is deciding who exactly you want to become. This is just the goal-setting stage, so don’t be afraid to reach for the stars— and beyond your comfort zone. Maybe you’ve always wanted to be organized. Maybe you’ve always wanted to be vegan. Maybe you’ve always wanted to rock a red lip. Hear me out: why not be an organized vegan who rocks a red lip? Photos courtesy of Vivi Smilgius

By Vivi Smilgius

very time Jan. 1 rapidly approaches, with it comes dozens of Instagram posts announcing fitness journeys, wardrobe purges, and a slew of other reformatory gauntlets disguised as New Year’s resolutions. Some use resolutions to select and change an aspect of their lives each year, while others become too ambitious and eventually overwhelmed, sticking with their resolutions for only a few months or even days. But regardless of the New Year’s resolution success rate, Jan. 1 is the perfect time to take a stab at personal reinvention— in your wardrobe, exercise schedule, spending habits, general demeanor or, better yet, all of the above. The way I see it, there are two possible results. Either the resolution maker succeeds in becoming the person they’ve always wanted to be, or they fail— along with most others— and try again next year. With potential outcomes so cut and dry, why limit yourself to fixing just one of your personal flaws?

Reinvention is not an easy process, but developing a clear image of who you’d like to be works wonders— both as motivation and as a reference point if you find yourself getting lost along the way. (That’s not to say you can’t change your mind. It’s your life, after all.) Alas, becoming your best self isn’t as easy as creating a few Pinterest boards and calling it a day. You have to work towards your goals— that’s where the resolution part comes in. Use the New Year as an excuse to make as many resolutions as you want. Jan 1. plays a little trick on your brain, posing as a factory reset full of inspiration and drive. One of the most important things to remember about New Year’s resolutions, especially when you’re making them yourself, is to do them at your own pace. Let’s revisit the idea of the organized, red-lip-rocking vegan. This person obviously has their life together. They’re able to meal prep and they have the confidence to be bold. If you’re not quite there yet, your initial resolutions should match with where you are now. (Very few people can— or prefer to— go cold turkey on stuff like this.)

So, start by organizing a room of your apartment or a drawer of your vanity. Maybe that means throwing away all the expired makeup products you can’t seem to get rid of. Maybe it means vacuuming, sweeping, and doing a deep clean of your bedroom. However the baseline of organization looks for you, do that. Being vegan isn’t easy, either. Instead of emptying your fridge (and wasting what’s probably perfectly good non-vegan food) try preparing a few vegan meals a week and slowly integrating plant-based products into your food intake. If you’re not ready to pay the extra dollar for oat milk in your lattes just yet, try a plant-based chili for dinner. It’s the little things, really. And maybe you’re not quite at a red lipstick point in your life yet. That’s OK. Start building confidence, however that looks for you. Maybe it’s wearing your favorite outfit. Maybe it’s speaking up for yourself when someone interrupts you. Maybe it’s swapping, “sorry I’m late” with, “thanks for waiting.” These little changes can last as long as you need them to— whether that’s the first week of January or mid-March. Part

of the reason resolutions aren’t successful is because they simply move too fast, without allowing time for the resolution maker to make adjustments. Doing your New Year’s resolutions at your own pace is the most foolproof way to succeed in the character development you’ve been trying to achieve since you started high school.

least a little.

If you’re lacking inspiration but want to make a change, there are several ways to find out whether or not a total reinvention is in your future. Pop on a movie with characters you admire or read a book with a protagonist you love or listen to some of your favorite music— anything that makes you feel powerful and cool. As cliché as the It Girl character is, I think it’s safe to say we all want to be her, at

So, maybe this January is your time to make a change. It might come in the form of a new lipstick, a trip to the gym, or a few chapters of a new book. Whatever it is, seize the day— and each one after— and any opportunities for change it may present.

Features

By Dionna Santucci Illustrations By Lucia Thorne Content Warning: This article contains mentions of violence, death, suicide, and racism.

he events of 2020 left many entering 2021 with hope or skepticism, but mostly uncertainty. We were soon met with the good, the bad, and the absurd. As another long and tiresome year comes to a close, the events of 2021 might have slipped through the cracks or blurred into one cohesive cluster headache. So, here’s a chronological rundown of some of the most memorable and deplorable events of this past year.

sicians and connoisseurs of hits like “Around the World” and “Get Lucky” called it quits with a flashy, eightminute-long video announcement. Following the news of their breakup, Daft Punk streams soared up by 500 percent, according to Rolling Stone Magazine. Though it’s hard to say that the breakup was unexpected, the end of Daft Punk also served as the end of an era and another reminder of the changing times. 1. The Jan. 6 Insurrection As if things couldn’t get any worse than starting a new year in the midst of a pandemic, supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed into the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to block Congress from certifying the 2020 election results–– results that would confirm that Joe Biden was to be the next president. “The rioters pushed past police, broke windows, deployed tear gas, and forced Congress into a recess and lawmakers to take cover in their offices,” Business Insider reported in an article covering the insurrection. The event, resulting in the deaths of seven people (four on the day of the attack, one the day after, and two by suicide in the days following), has been referred to as an act of domestic terrorism by members of Congress in a transcript of a house hearing, according to a report by The Guardian. The event felt like something out of a fever dream. Watching rioters construct makeshift guillotines and effigies in front of the Capitol live from a computer or TV screen was nothing short of apocalyptic. 2. The End of Daft Punk French electronic duo Daft Punk announced their break-up on Feb. 22, further proving that nothing was sacred in 2021. After being in the scene for nearly 30 years, the robot-helmeted mu-

3. Atlanta-Area Spa Shootings The uptick in anti-Asian hate crimes continued well into 2021, with the night of March 17 bringing these tragedies to light when a gunman went on a shooting spree that led to the deaths of eight people at three separate spas. Delaina Ashley Yaun, Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Paul Andre Michels, Hyun Jung Grant, Soon Chung Park, Suncha Kim, and Yong Ae Yue were all either patrons or employees at these spas that night. The shooting propelled the Stop Asian Hate movement, which advocates for the end of anti-Asian sentiments and xenophobia prominent in both society at large and politics. The Rand Corporation found in a recent study that the “recent wave of anti-Asian hate is inspired by negative rhetoric about Asians,” Protests, websites, and calls to action surrounding the Stop Asian Hate movement boomed across the country, with many members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community criticizing the way U.S. politicians have spoken about the pandemic. 4. Derek Chauvin’s Trial After the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 sparked international protests against police brutality, and in favor of criminal justice reform, we waited almost a year for the trial that decided the fate of the officer who killed Floyd, Derek Chauvin. Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer who was

filmed kneeling on Floyd’s neck despite his cries for help, was charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. After closing statements, the jury went on to deliberate for ten hours before ultimately finding Chauvin guilty of all three charges. A little over two months later, Chauvin was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison. Outside the courtroom, a crowd erupted in applause and cries of relief as the guilty verdicts were read and many felt a small sense of closure, with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison calling the sentencing a “moment of real accountability” in a press conference. 5. Billionaires and Their Race to Space A battle of egos among billionaires Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and Elon Musk broke out around July 2021, as the world’s most privileged sent themselves into space. The rest of us were stuck on Earth as the Delta variant led to another surge in coronavirus cases. These billionaires got as far away from the pandemic as they could, while simultaneously continuing the one-percent tradition of wreaking havoc on the other 99 percent for their gain—even from hundreds of thousands of miles away. Both Musk and Bezos’ cosmic travels resulted in the release of more carbon emissions than most humans could create in their lifetime, according to the 2022 World Inequality Report. According to Forbes, the race catalyzed

a boom in employment across the technology, engineering, and science career spheres. Unifying the country for many different reasons, the so-called “Billionaire Space Race” brought conversations surrounding space tourism into mainstream politics. 6. The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 While the pandemic still raged on, 2021 welcomed us back to in-person events. The 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics finally took place after a year-long delay from July 23 to Aug. 8. Despite being a super-spreader event, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) tried, and failed, to carry on with the games as usual. Like most things throughout the year, the 2021 Olympics did not go without its fair share of controversies. Though the US could be seen as the “winner” of the games,—taking home a total of 113 medals, 25 more than runner-up China— important discussions surrounding athletes’ mental health and gender identity in sports drew more attention and coverage than the event itself. After performing at the games with an unbearable amount of pressure, Simone Biles, the most accomplished athlete in the history of gymnastics, withdrew from the team finals event after a promising performance throughout the Tokyo Olympics beforehand. The withdrawal came as a shock to both athletes and spectators,

but Biles argued that this was a long time coming. “I think we’re a little too stressed out—we should be out here having fun and that’s just not the case,” Biles said to ESPN’s Michele Steele. Biles’s prioritization of her mental health and openness regarding her decision not only drew applause from mental health professionals worldwide but also served as a catalyst for fellow athletes, like skateboarder Nyjah Huston and tennis star Naomi Osaka, to open up about their mental health struggles as well. 7. #FreeBritney Though people have advocated for the termination of Britney Spears’ conservatorship since its inception in 2008, two documentaries and multiple court hearings brought the fight into 2021 with newfound momentum and popularity. Various grassroots movements like #FreeBritney prioritized sit-ins and protests in the name of Spears’ liberation. The hashtag was trending on and off on social media sites like Twitter for the better part of 2021, with the activism reaching peak notoriety around September. Spears, after being under the conservatorship of her father Jamie Spears for over 13 years, was finally granted her freedom on Nov. 12, 2021, after her father stepped down as her conservator, ultimately resulting in a judge later finding that the conservatorship as a whole was unnecessary and putting an end to it completely. The event sparked interna-

tional conversations regarding the ethical and moral dilemmas surrounding conservatorships. After her release from metaphorical chains, Spears is not only in control of her finances but is also free to continue gifting the internet with her iconic Instagram dance videos without anyone holding her back. 8. Red (Taylor’s Version) “Red (Taylor’s Version)” was a masterpiece in the making for three years before its Nov. 12 release. After Taylor Swift moved from her original record label, Big Machine Records (BMR) to Universal Records in 2018, Swift’s former manager Scooter Braun sold the masters of her first six albums. Though Swift offered to buy her masters, she was denied and the rights to the music, music videos, and cover art were sold for $300 million. In 2020, Swift began the process of re-recording each of her six sold albums. The result was Swift releasing two re-recordings in 2021— “Fearless (Taylor’s Version.)” and “Red (Taylor’s Version)”. Swift’s decision to re-record was commended by many and inspired upand-coming artists like Olivia Rodrigo to ensure that they owned and had control over their work. While both albums were a hit with fans new and old, Red TV seemed to break the internet. The album’s Spotify page crashed for a few minutes as fans rushed to stream the album as soon as it dropped. Out of the 26 songs from the 30-song album that charted, the 10-minute version of the “Red” cult classic, “All Too Well,” soared to the number one spot. At 10 minutes and 13 seconds, it’s the longest song to ever reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, according to Pitchfork.

9. COVID-19 Vaccinations 2021 saw one of the fastest and one of the most efficient vaccine roll-outs of all time, with every single country now having access to and administering the vaccine, according to Reuters. It is important to note that developing nations saw disparities in the benefit of vaccine distribution compared to more welloff nations. Just two years after the start of the pandemic, over half of America is now fully vaccinated against COVID-19. According to Bloomberg’s COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker, more doses have been administered (8.5 billion) than there are people on the planet (7.8 billion). With the number of people fully vaccinated and the rate of vaccinations, the world is set to hit the 75 percent mark in 2022. While the vaccine is by no means a get-

out-of-jail-free card, the higher the vaccinated population is, the closer we are to achieving herd immunity, making the spread of the virus from person to person less likely. With the much more contagious and easily-spread Omicron variant, the vaccines and boosters have been proven to be helpful in not only preventing infection but reducing the severity of symptoms and how they present, according to NPR. All in all, this past year has been one rollercoaster of a ride—much like any other. Many horrible, unthinkable things occurred in 2021, but so did many wonderful, restore-your-faith-in-humanity type things. We’re not going to jinx it and say that 2022 is going to be “our year,” because, really, when has that statement ever aged well? But, remaining cautiously hopeful going into the new year is sure to serve us better in the long run than blind nihilism.

Opinion

Photo courtesy of Wiki Commons

B yy R aa cc hh ee ll H aa cc kk aa mm Content Warning: This article contains mentions of dieting and issues regarding body image.

ith the new year, comes “New Year’s resolutions,” often including self-imposed goals of weight loss and/or health kicks. But why do so many New Year’s Resolutions solely focus on weight loss? When did losing weight become synonymous with being healthy? The answer to both of these questions is the toxicity of diet culture. Although more complex than a simple definition, diet culture can be defined as a system of beliefs that elevates appearing thin over one’s mental

I ll ll uu ss tt rr aa tt ii oo nn ss B yy L uu cc ii aa T hh oo rr nn ee and physical well-being. Diet culture infiltrates almost every aspect of our society year-round, manifesting itself in TV ads for “Weight Watchers” or to your favorite celebrity or family member pushing their newest fast-acting “diet product” on social media. However, diet companies thrive during peak resolution season, feeding off the insecurities of their buyers. Every January, over 45 million American adults start diets, many of which fail before the end of the month. But why are so many of these diets hard to maintain? It all comes down to sustainability. Diet culture consistently perpetuates the thin ideal, leading people to search for a “quick fix” instead of building healthy habits, especially with the ex-

pectation of immediate results accompanying new year’s resolutions. For example, an individual might try to cut out all sugar and carbs from their daily diet in order to achieve their goal as quickly as possible, but end up not being able to keep up with their new overly restrictive diet. Because of the sneaky nature of diet culture, many individuals don’t realize they’re adhering to its values.

DIET CULTURE CONSISTENTLY PERPETUATESTHETHINIDEAL, LEADING PEOPLE TO SEARCH FORA“QUICKFIX”INSTEADOF BUILDING HEALTHY HABITS Furthermore, in recent years, diet culture has rebranded itself from “dieting” to “wellness,” however, the core values have not changed— being thin equates to being healthy. This unsustainable kind of dieting leads to a practice known as “yo-yo dieting,” where a person will continuously start and stop restrictive diets. The focus on weight loss and caloric restriction causes people to become disconnected from their body’s natural hunger cues. Because of this, many registered dieticians are working with clients and focusing on “intuitive eating”—eating in response to one’s hunger and satiety cues, with the goal of building a healthier relationship with food. With intuitive eating, no food is “off limits,” eliminating the stigma around certain food groups such as carbs. In recent years, many dieticians and diet culture adversaries alike have turned to social media to discuss the harmful nature of diet culture. Recently, TikTok has become a platform where dieticians advocate for intuitive eat-

ing, working to dismantle diet culture. Toronto based registered dietician and intuitive eating coach Abbey Sharp has used her platform on both TikTok and YouTube to “debunk diet myths.” On her channel, Sharp will examine different diets and detoxes before sharing why they are unnecessary. For example, Sharp created a video explaining why a “five day New Year’s detox” is not beneficial for your body. All of her videos lead back to the same idea: there is no magic powder, drink, or superfood that can rid your body of toxins, that’s what we have a liver, kidney, and immune system for. Sharp and others on TikTok––and other social media platforms––work to provide alternatives to diet culture, allowing for future generations to break the cycle and help encourage a healthier relationship with food. From a young age, diet culture is shoved down our throats. From NOOM and other diet companies commercials on TV, to idolizing unrealistic beauty standards like Barbie’s long legs and slim waist, the thin ideal is everywhere. The pressure to adhere to society’s ideal body shape and size is especially prevalent among young girls. While I was lucky to grow up with a mother who didn’t negatively comment on my body or her own, in the 7th grade my friend group and I decided we weren’t going to eat any “junk food” and would only eat “healthy food.” While this didn’t last very long (less than a week), it was my first introduction to moralizing food. Diet culture told me that some foods—higher calorie foods— were inherently bad. I made smoothies not because I wanted them, but because I was told they were healthy. I watched my friends obsess over their bodies, wishing they were as tiny as I was, as I secretly wished to grow another four inches to be their height. We wanted to look like the models we saw on Instagram.

The ones with personal trainers and nutritionists counting every calorie and curating every workout for them. Diet culture and society as a whole had told me I needed to be taller and to have longer legs to be considered pretty. However, that wasn’t and still isn’t my reality. And that is okay. Growing up in the dance world, I saw diet culture everywhere. I was fortunate to train at a dance studio with teachers who did not comment on our bodies, but that isn’t the case for many dancers. I heard horror stories from girls at other studios whose teachers had told them to “lose x amount of weight” before the show next week, even if that meant drastically reducing their caloric intake. Although improvements have been made in recent years, there is still a pressure in the dance world to look a certain way, to eat a certain way, even if that means your performance will suffer because your body doesn’t have the energy it needs.

space.

DIET CULTURE AND SOCIETY AS A WHOLE HAD TOLD ME I NEEDED TO BE TALLER AND TO HAVE LONGER LEGS TO BE CONSIDERED PRETTY. HOWEVER, THAT WASN’T AND STILL ISN’T MY REALITY. AND THAT IS OKAY. Diet culture creates a fatphobic society, moralizing thinness, equating health and size. In response, a movement advocating for health over size has emerged. The body positivity movement strives to promote acceptance of one’s own body, regardless of the shape or size. This movement attempts to dismantle ideas instilled in society because of diet culture. It portrays food as fuel, with different foods serving different purposes, utilizing words such as “nutrient dense” instead of “healthy.” Body positivity and intuitive eating advocates for balance in both diet and lifestyle, prioritizing listening to your own body. Life is too short to count every calorie, to regret every piece of cake, to give that much power to the scale. Freeing oneself from the diet culture mentality is hard. It’s hard to not assign a bag of chips moral value. It’s hard to ignore the bolded calories on food packaging. But it’s possible and necessary.

Diet culture and society as a whole preaches thinness over health. It expects everyone to conform to its impossible standards, no matter the cost. It encourages individuals to shrink down to the smallest possible size. To take up less

Instead of striving to lose weight or eat healthier this year, try counting memories instead of calories. Fifty years from now, you won’t look back and wish you hadn’t eaten that piece of cake, you’ll remember the people you were with and the occasion you were celebrating. So eat the carrots, but eat the cookies too.

Illustration By Lucia Thorne

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s we get closer and closer to the end of this year and try our best to prepare for another, many embrace the practice of setting New Year’s resolutions. After this year of insurrections, COVID variants, and environmental disasters, it seems New Year’s Eve is the perfect time to put our best foot forward. But do these resolutions actually hold any merit? And if they do, why do we wait until Jan. 1 to make them? It can be argued that New Year’s resolutions are simply just a crock of shit. Statistics differ— some say only 8 percent of those who make resolutions will actually meet them, while others say 80 percent of New Year’s resolutions fail by mid-February. Either way, it’s ironic people still indulge in these resolutions despite the high probability they won’t keep them. Like many, I am guilty of making, but not meeting resolutions. During the countdown to the new year, I have been known to indulge in superstitious rituals like eating twelve purple grapes—each grape represents a resolution for each month— or writing down my resolutions and burning them at midnight, signifying that the resolution is “written in the stars” and therefore cannot be broken. But none of these rituals have ever actually helped me go through with my resolutions, yet I set a new one every year anyway. Why? Research conducted by Hengchen Dai, Katherine L. Milkman, and Jason Riis at the Wharton School break down the psychology of a resolution based on a temporal milestone–– meaning that when people want to produce a concrete change in their lives they often find a prominent timeline to measure progress.

Whether that timeline begins with the start of a semester or a new day, the theory is that people choose specific start dates in hopes of reaching a satisfying completion. Dai, Milkman, and Riis refer to this as “the fresh-start effect,” which most people still do. For three consecutive years starting in 2016, U.S. polls reported that 44 percent of participants are likely or very likely to make a New Year’s resolution. This makes sense, especially in recent years where it seems that every new year brings a new nightmare sequence of political instability, economic distress, environmental catastrophes, and more. People just want to feel in control of their own well-being, and when it seems like the world is in flames, there is no better time to take control than the start of a new year. Research funded by the Department of Psychology in Stockholm University claims that New Year’s resolutions normally focus on changing behavior to accomplish a goal that benefits physical and mental health. This increases the likelihood for individual and communal success. The most popular resolutions almost always revolve around physical appearance or health (33 percent) and the second most popular category is weight loss (20 percent). According to the same study, people who set resolutions for themselves at the beginning of a new year truly have the motivation to go through with their goals, yet most don’t make it to completion. This fact isn’t surprising to me. Our priorities and motivations shift constantly and setting a resolution sometimes creates added pressure that if a resolution is broken even for one day, you’ve failed.

However, the main issue with New Year’s resolutions is that no matter how specific they are, the time frame is much too long. Amy Morin, a licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist, and college psychology instructor, writes in Psychology Today that it’s not a lack of willpower that leads most people to fail their New Year’s resolutions, but the fact that they start on Jan. 1. The process of change is different for everybody, though. Morin points out that in order to actually go through with personal goals, a person must navigate different stages–– this includes precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance.

don’t offer any motivation other than timeliness. You are not going to suddenly find motivation to eat healthily or go out more because you told yourself you had to once midnight finally hits. That’s not how our brains work. This is also why we can’t beat ourselves up when our resolutions don’t go as planned. Life is all about balance, and there is no point in setting ourselves up for failure every year because we believe this new year is going to be the magic wand that fixes that ick we’ve pointed out to ourselves forever.

Precontemplation is denying there is a problem while having it pointed out to you. Contemplation refers to the thought process and reviewing of possible pros and cons of the resolution. The next steps involve preparation and action, while the final stage should be maintenance, or figuring out how to stick to your change over time.

Change takes time and energy that won’t come overnight. If we want to create real sustainable change this year, we should recognize our issues when they are pointed out and use that motivation to do something about it. Not to mention, we need to take it easy on ourselves. No one expects us to get it right all the time.

According to Morin, if people base their resolutions on a set calendar date, they will not be able to make changes to improve their lives. For most people, change won’t occur simply because the clock strikes twelve.

If you don’t want to change today, you won’t— so don’t force it. If you want to be more involved at your job, don’t wait until the first of January to do it. Get to work now. If you feel disconnected from your friends and family, for the love of God don’t wait until new years to send them that ‘I miss you’ text. Do it now. 2022 could be a great year. It’s all about intent and perspective.

Not only are New Year’s resolutions known to fail, but also by nature they do not work because they rely on preconceived dates that