At the stroke of midnight, the New Year gives a clean slate for long-elusive resolutions
ABC News
It’s an annual end-of-year exercise in futility for many
NEW YORK -- It’s 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.
From the first spray of fireworks to the closing chorus of “Auld Lang Syne” 366 days into the future — 2024 is a leap year — it could be the year for finally achieving long-elusive goals, fulfilling aspirations and being resolute on all those New Year resolutions.
“As humans, we are creatures that aspire,” said Omid Fotuhi, a social psychologist who is a motivation and performance researcher.
“The 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," said Fotuhi, the director of learning innovation at Western Governors University Labs and a research associate at the University of Pittsburgh.
“New Year’s resolutions are one of those ways in which we do that,” he said. “There’s something very liberating about a fresh start. Imagine starting on a blank canvas. Anything is possible.”
