Drink less, lose weight and save money. These are among the most popular New Year’s resolutions along with eating healthy, improving quality of life and volunteering, according to a list on USA.gov.

Resolutions started out as a religious decision to make improvements as a way of apologizing for the transgressions in the previous year. Most New Year’s resolutions utterly fail within the first few weeks due to the sheer size of the goal.

A 2009 British university’s study held by professor Richard Wiseman concluded that less than 25 percent of people complete their resolutions. The key to prevent this from happening, he argued, is to break big resolutions into smaller resolutions.

For example, those looking to quit smoking should split their goal into smaller steps, such as decreasing the number of cigarettes a day, wearing a patch, etc. He argued that when you succeed at a step, you get a feeling of accomplishment that pushes you to do better.

The Kent State campus has several resources to help make some New Year’s resolutions a reality. The Student Recreation and Wellness Center has an annual promotion at the start of the New Year. This year’s special is “2012: New Year, New You,” which lets students buy an annual membership during January and receive one additional month free.

Carmen Daniel, lead member and guest services supervisor at the SRWC, said she notices an “exceedingly” large difference between the attendance at the beginning of the spring semester and the end.

Some Kent State students had unusual resolutions to start off the New Year:

—Sophomore exploratory major Courtney Evans said her resolution is “to deactivate Facebook for at least two or three months.”

Some students’ goals were a little different.

—Senior history major Martel Carpenter said: “I plan on losing 40 pounds, (to) win the lottery and to find my dream cougar.”

—Michael DeWitt, freshman exploratory major at Kent State Stark, vowed to “resolve to unlock all of the achievements in Skyrim.”

—Brittani Gintz, senior public health major, said she doesn’t buy into the fad of making New Year’s resolutions.

“I don’t make serious resolutions at New Year’s,” Gintz said. “If I want to change, I can do that at any point in the year. I do simple resolutions, like cut back on pop, at New Year’s, if I make any at all.”

Contact Maggie Thurston at [email protected].