Convenience always wins out over a distant promise to drastically change the way we live our lives. Businesses make millions of dollars each year on manufacturing diet foods and pharmaceuticals that are designed to help people look good and quit smoking successfully, yet people fail or give up when they use them. Furthermore, there are services that are free of charge right here on campus that are devoted to helping people become healthier, more productive students. Still, these services go unused or avoided by many who eventually give up on their promises and return to their old ways by the time midterms roll around. I think that we can understand why people fail to keep these resolutions by looking at their motives.
People often change for other people.
They quit smoking because their friends think it's disgusting. Unless people really want to change themselves from the inside out, instead of from the outside in, there is little hope for them to follow through with their New Year's resolutions. A common complaint from New Year resolution makers is that they just don't have the time or money to keep their promises to themselves. But if you've got the time to shove a Hostess Cupcake in your mouth, you've got the time to wash off an apple instead. If you've got the money to spend on pack after pack of cigarettes, you've got the money to try the patch instead.