Acharya Prashant explains why New Year's resolutions often fail. He states that people have a great desire for the 'new' and look forward to dates, hoping the next important date might bring change into their lives. However, he points out that many find their resolutions come to naught, citing a study where the average resolution lasts only 7.8 days. This happens because we become greatly desirous and start something with enthusiasm, but very soon, that enthusiasm settles down. We make great plans to do this or that, whether it's preparing for an exam, visiting the gym, or attending classes, but by the next day, we decide to leave it. Our resolutions rarely materialize. No 'new' year will give you the 'New'; so many new years have come and gone and become old years. What is 'Happy New Year' today becomes 'sad old year' very quickly. The 'new', the happiness you are looking for, will not come through experience or time; it comes when you are a little less insistent upon cheating yourself. This newness is described as something that replenishes itself, like a fountain or a river with an inexhaustible source. You don't have to wait for the next 'Happy New Year'; you can just jump into this river, where every single drop of water is 'New'. The speaker asserts that our environment conditions us. It tells us to make a resolution on January 1st and then to forget it by January 5th, and we follow this pattern. Instead of fancying what you would do the next year, he advises going into the facts of what you have been continuously doing. It was the same you last year; while a little bit may have changed on the surface, your central tendencies have not. Life becomes a repetition with no observation of the internal machinery, which keeps operating on auto mode. Conditioning and environmental influences are like dust that continuously gathers, but this dust cannot really harm you and can be cleaned anytime. When it is cleaned, the crystal within shines as brightly as ever. The key to breaking this cycle is observation. The observation is the Newness. While your glance or sight won't change the machinery as such, there is something about observation that will give you a taste of the 'New'. On one hand, you want change, but on the other, you won't let change happen because you just keep repeating. The solution is to observe this machinery.