It happens every year. January rolls around, and everyone starts making resolutions.

People promise to go to the gym more often, to drink less coffee, or to do basically anything that makes them feel good about themselves. Reality is, almost none of these resolutions last the year. Here are the stages of following a New Year’s Resolution to “work out more.”

Stage 1: Optimism

You’re up and at ‘em on your first day of the new year and ready to hit the gym. You’ve got your best workout outfit on, and you might even snap a gym selfie to give your friends something to look forward to.

 Stage 2: Determination

You’re about a week in, and you have stuck with your resolution so far. You wake up feeling clear-minded and enthusiastic. You look in the mirror and think, “Who is that superstar?” and you have some more pep in your step. 

Stage 3: Confidence

By stage three, you feel like a new person. You’re a couple weeks in, and you haven’t broken your resolution once. This is the stage where people typically get overly confident, telling everyone about their resolution.

 Stage 4: Relaxation

That 6 a.m. alarm is going off closer to 9:30 a.m., and you’ve cut down from five days in the gym to only three. Your workouts are only lasting about 45 minutes instead of an hour, and you decide to reward yourself with ice cream after.

Stage 5: Excuses

This is when you start taking naps instead of working out or doing anything you can to procrastinate your resolution. You make excuses as to why you can’t follow through and stop prioritizing.

Stage 6: Relapse

Resolution who? Working out hardly crosses your mind, but you’re trying to hold on to your resolution for dear life. You go back once, maybe twice. It’s too crowded for you. You duck out after 45 minutes. You spent twenty of them waiting on a squat rack that never really opened up. “Maybe next time it’ll be better," you think. But you don’t go back. At least not that month.

 Stage 7: Realization

You’ve given up all together. At least there’s always next year.

If you’re part of the majority of the population who makes New Year’s resolutions that aren’t kept, don’t worry. You can choose to start a new resolution no matter the time of year, just make a plan and stick to it! Yes, “there’s always next year!” but there’s also right now. Take advantage of the present and achieve your goals.

Good luck. Be well, Auburn.