New Year's resolutions. Are you someone who is wondering why people bother to make them, only to abandon them only days or weeks into the New Year? Even if you don't end up keeping your resolution, making them reflects that human desire to succeed, to become better than we are.

As author Zig Ziglar said, "You need a plan to build a house. To build a life, it is even more important to have a plan or goal." With that in mind, here are five reasons for making New Year's resolutions:

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Tips to keeping your New Year's resolutions

It's no surprise that getting fit and working out tops the list of New Year's resolutions. So why is that one so hard to stick with? Here's some advice for keeping all your resolutions this year.

1. Make a New Year's resolution in order to inspire hope in yourself. Hope never gives up; it keeps on believing even when it seems too hard or maybe even impossible. Hope makes things possible, so making a New Year's resolution says, "I hope that this year will be different," or, "I have hope that I can accomplish this goal." A New Year's resolution says you believe in yourself and that you are capable of accomplishing great things.
2. A New Year's resolution can give you clarity. It's a chance to think about where you are now and what you still want out of life. It's an opportunity to decide what you need to do to get there. Without the clarity of the end zone, football players would run up and down the field without purpose. Make a New Year's resolution to clarify with yourself what your purpose is.
3. Making a New Year's resolution requires you to stop and think. If you decide to make a resolution, you have to actually do some thinking about yourself and what things you would like to change, enhance or simply do better at. Taking a good look in the mirror every once in awhile can only do ourselves good. Once we do this, a New Year's resolution helps us move forward in life.
4. New Year's resolutions go hand-in-hand with a New Year, which is like a clean slate. Goals can take a clean slate and make the most of it. It's an opportunity to evaluate not just ourselves, but our relationships also. It's an opportunity to channel our efforts toward those worthwhile things and people in our lives.
5. A goal for the New Year, or at any other time, gives an anchor for the vision we want to achieve. Writing down that goal is a positive step toward actually achieving it, rather than just thinking about it. Once you take the step to write down your resolution, that can inspire you to take the next step toward accomplishing it.

Christine Sedlacek earned a bachelor of arts degree in English from the University of Utah. She has been writing professionally since 2008. Her work has appeared in the Davis County Clipper, Examiner.com, and other internet sites.

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