If January is the month of ambition, then February is the month of negligence. People often set goals for the year ahead, but by February, these resolutions are either petering out or have been completely forgotten.

Whether people stick to their New Year’s resolutions or end up resorting to their old ways, the idea of resolutions can be compared to change in any aspect of life, on a small scale (giving up biting your nails) or a large scale (being a more confident person).

The fact that goals don’t always become a reality and are hard to keep up raises the question of whether most people actually want to change or if they simply like the idea of changing themselves.

Many people can identify at least one thing they would like to change about themselves, as change is an inevitable thing for people to pursue. Improving yourself or trying to accomplish a dream sounds great, but the actions you take are what matter. Popular resolutions like losing weight, saving money and eating healthier are also the most commonly broken because they are very open-ended; there is no specific focus or plan on how to accomplish these tasks.

To some people, making a January resolution is like a challenge to see how long and hard you can push yourself. Trying to make a larger change in your life may seem like an easy task at first, but it can be taxing or easy to get stuck and hard to know how to keep advancing after a month.

People who manage to continue working on their goals usually set the most realistic goals. For example, it’s difficult to set a goal of working out every day or quitting a habit outright. It’s much more doable to set goals that work with your daily life and are flexible, such as finding one or two days to work out during the week or making healthier food choices.

The difference between the idea of changing and actually changing requires desire and determination. If someone has the desire to accomplish his or her goal and makes a habit of continually working out or avoiding sweets, then he or she is more likely to stick to it.

Achieving greater goals in life is generally a lot harder to do. Suppose you are just starting college and you’ve made the goal of becoming more confident speaking in class. The answer might be easy – just raise your hand and give your opinion in class. But to someone who struggles with this issue, the idea of doing this is terrifying. So, he or she might have to start out smaller by first giving his or her opinions in social settings with friends or with a partner during class.

Change is a scary thing, which is why many people are unable to realize their goals. People may think motivation is the only thing they require, but making any change is taking a risk. Even if you’re trying to accomplish a simple change, you have to stop doing something that is familiar and comfortable to you. To turn your resolutions into reality, you must be able to take the necessary small steps in order to accomplish the larger goal.

Claire Noack can be reached at noac8702@stthomas.edu.