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’Tis the season of overcommitting to 17 different New Year’s resolutions that you can decently uphold while still resting at home over break, then watching them slowly slip away as the semester begins.
Pew Research studies show that less than a month into the new year, 13% of people will have already given up on their New Year’s resolutions. If you find yourself in that position, you’re not alone. Only 43% of people can keep their resolutions through March, raising the question of whether resolutions are worthwhile in the first place. The solution isn’t to ditch resolutions altogether, but to commit to disciplined growth in achievable ways.
The virtue of temperance, St. Thomas Aquinas taught, is the practice of self-discipline in all temptations. Thrift is the virtue of disciplined spending; sobriety of disciplined alcohol intake; and humility of disciplined pride. Practicing temperance, or its derivatives, creates healthy habits of saying no to things that lead to vice.
Discipline doesn’t happen overnight. The resolutions you make on Jan. 1, 2026 mean you are striving to become a certain person by Dec. 31, 2026. Orient your resolutions toward becoming who you want to be by taking one day at a time.
Approaching every day with an attitude of discipline, even if there are times of failure, will yield small wins and steady growth. Half the battle in developing discipline is not becoming discouraged when the old tendencies or weaknesses remain — discipline isn’t the absence of temptation, but continuing to fight the old desires and practice new habits every day. Setting the goal of eating healthier will not eradicate your sweet tooth, but the consistent effort to resist that impulse will create a new habit and gradually change your tastes.
Find someone to hold you accountable — a friend who you can talk to about your goals for the year — and share your struggles and achievements with that person. Keeping a daily journal or habit checklist of your progress toward your end goal can work in a similar way. I have found that having a friend or small group that challenges me to become a better person and calls me out on my failings is the best motivator to wake up and try again the next day.
It doesn’t matter what goals you set or how lofty they may be. What matters is how you will achieve them.
Elaine Kutas is a junior studying English.
