New York (AP) — A new year is the time to set new goals. Yet studies have shown that most people don’t tend to uphold their New Year’s resolutions much past the first month.
In an attempt to reframe the thinking around new year goal-setting, a new wellness trend has popped up online. It’s called the ’Winter Arc.’
Here’s what to know.
The goal-setting challenge was created online by fitness and wellness influencers, so there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach or standard definition. There are over 400,000 posts on Instagram with the caption #winterarc, and almost 600,000 on TikTok.
For many of those trying the trend, the Winter Arc involves utilizing the cold, dark earlier months of winter to turn inward and get a jump start on their goals, with the intent of having them in place by the time Jan. 1 rolls around.
It’s also meant to encourage participants to be extremely disciplined and rigid with their goals since it’s a shorter period to get them done rather than an entire year, or indefinitely.
Laura Galebe, an influencer and the self-proclaimed “CEO of Glowup Series,” posts videos to her social media accounts talking about her Winter Arc experience. She used the time to commit to “walking every day, journaling, and sticking to (her) skincare and wellness routines.”
“I found it very transformative both mentally and physically,” Galebe says. “The consistent movement helped me stay energized and the structure made the season feel a lot less heavy.”
Although some say the Winter Arc challenge can begin in October, it’s never too late to start. According to Alex Rothstein, an exercise psychologist with the New York Institute of Technology, the best way to dive in is to carve out time each day to work on your goals.
“If you make sure to actively plan and schedule each commitment," Rothstein says, “you will have an easier time adhering to the program.”
He also recommends setting reasonable, realistic goals that are achievable from day to day. “Recognize that if unforeseen circumstances cause you to miss a day or miss a specific goal in a day, it does not mean you failed the entire process,” he says. “You should be willing to pick up where you started the next day.”
Galebe recommends finding ways to make fitness “cozy and convenient” in the cold winter months.
“If the thought of heading to the gym in freezing weather is demotivating, consider at-home workouts or joining a heated indoor Pilates or yoga studio,” she says. “Another tip is to reframe movement as self-care. Winter is tough on your body and mind so I treat my walks or workouts as part of keeping my overall mental and physical health in check.”
To recap:
—Set realistic, attainable goals.
—Plan out your routine and find the time in your schedule in advance.
—Be okay with missing a day, giving yourself the space to pick up where you left off.
—Find cozy and convenient ways to stay active in the colder months.
Elliot Berkman, a professor of psychology at the University of Oregon, says that goal progress, rather than simply goal attainment, is psychologically beneficial. He says it can provide “positive emotion, a sense of purpose and meaning as well as agency and autonomy.”
When it comes to goal-setting in a short, specific period of time, like the Winter Arc, he says those parameters can be helpful. “Putting a time bound on a goal can improve the chances the goal is achieved. It’s easier to maintain motivation if you know that you get to stop at some point as opposed to feeling like you need to keep up the hard work indefinitely, which can be demotivating.”
Some on social media have made comparisons between short-term fitness challenges and crash diets, with the idea being that once the challenge stops, one could return to unhealthy habits. But experts say that’s not necessarily true.
“If the challenge is used to help establish new and healthier habits for long term health and wellness, than the challenges are exceptionally useful to help guide and motivate to create these changes,” Rothstein says. He recommends making a plan toward the end of the challenge to continue keeping up with your goals in an attainable and realistic way.
FILE - Jacob Bullard leaps in the air as part of a physical therapy exercise at WashU, Dec. 16, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the aftermath of this week's tariff whiplash, President Donald Trump is deciding exactly what he wants out of trade talks with as many as 75 nations in the coming weeks.
Trump is also figuring out next steps with China. He upped his tariffs on Chinese goods to 145% after China placed retaliatory taxes of 84% on imports from the U.S. While his 90-day pause on other tariffs caused the stock market to rally on Wednesday, countries still face a baseline 10% import tax instead of the higher rates announced on April 2.
Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, told Fox News’ “Fox and Friends" on Wednesday that the administration already has “offers on the table from more than 15 countries.”
Hassett said the next step will be determining exactly what Trump wants out of the negotiations.
“We have a meeting today with all the top principals where we’re going to present to the president a list of what we think his priorities might look like," Hassett said. "And I’m sure he’s going to, you know, have his own ideas about where to move things.”
Here's a look at where Trump's tariffs showdown stands:
With $28.9 trillion in publicly held debt, the U.S. government can still be beholden to the investors who lend it money. Trump might be willing to run roughshod over political rivals, judges he dislikes and a host of political norms, but the bond market showed Wednesday that it can temper his plans.
Going into Wednesday, the interest rate on a 10-year U.S. Treasury note was increasing and approaching 4.5%. That meant the U.S. government was having a tough time finding possible buyers for its debt, as market participants were wondering if Trump's tariffs had caused foreign buyers to sour on the U.S. government. Higher interest rates for the government could trigger even higher mortgage rates and auto loans for consumers, among other problems.
Trump on Wednesday said investors were getting “yippy,” but after his tariff pause he described the bond market as “beautiful.”
The S&P 500 stock index jumped 9.5% after the pause was announced. But reality crept back in on Thursday and the stock market slumped. Sure, Trump was no longer going to put a 20% tariff on goods from the European Union, a 24% tariff on Japan or 25% on South Korea. But those nations still have imports taxed at an elevated 10%, Trump's new baseline as trade talks begin. And tariffs went up against China, locking the world's two largest economies in a trade war.
Plus, the trade war has expanded with China, and 25% tariffs still apply to imported autos, steel and aluminum. Imports from Canada and Mexico, the two largest U.S. trading partners, still face import taxes of as much as 25%. And Trump still plans tariffs on pharmaceutical drugs, lumber, copper and computer chips.
“While we appreciate the pause, the reciprocal tariff of 10% still represents more than double the tariff on imports of leather footwear from countries like Vietnam and Cambodia,” said Tom Florsheim, CEO of the Weyco Group, a footwear company. “Even at this level, it means a significant cost increase that will impact consumers.”
Because tariffs are taxes paid by importers, the costs generally get passed along to consumers and businesses in the form of higher prices and slower economic growth. The Budget Lab at Yale University estimated on Thursday that even with the pause, Trump's current tariff regime would pull down a household's average disposable income by $4,364.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that any trade agreements will be “bespoke” deals, rather than some overarching pact among a group of countries. Trump has laid out a series of grievances and goals regarding tariffs, but Canadian and European counterparts have said the actual asks from administration officials have been vague so far.
Trump has said he wants to eliminate the $1.2 trillion trade deficit, which means he no longer wants the U.S. to import more goods than it exports to other nations. He also wants revenues from tariffs to offset his income tax cut plans. The president has also said he wants the tariffs to bring back factory jobs and raise workers’ wages.
Aides have said that Trump wants other nations to scrap regulations and other policies such as Europe's value-added taxes that he deems to be a barrier to U.S. goods, an ask that would require other countries to change their laws. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said the goal is to get other nations to “respect” Trump.
His goals might not necessarily be in line with what other nations want.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen posted on X that she's “consistently advocated for a zero-for-zero tariff agreement between the European Union and the United States.”
Lori Wallach, director of the Rethink Trade program at the American Economic Liberties Project, said Trump needs to be more publicly forthright about what he wants out of trade talks and tariffs.
“Absent transparency about what is being demanded, we could end up with the worst of all outcomes — a bunch of bad special interest deals, all of the economic damage caused by tariff uncertainty and no trade rebalancing, US manufacturing capacity or goods jobs,” she said.
The Trump administration views China as violating basic trade norms with how it subsidizes its manufacturers, takes intellectual property from its global competitors, suppresses wages for its workers and manipulates its currency.
The White House clarified that the 125% tariffs that Trump announced on Wednesday against China were actually 145%, once his previous 20% fentanyl tariffs were included.
Census Bureau data show the U.S. ran a $295 billion trade deficit last year with China. Because U.S. consumers and businesses are such a major customer of Chinese manufacturers, Bessent has said that gives the U.S. an edge in terms of inflicting pain on that nation's economy through tariffs. Of course, China has also spent several years preparing for a trade war.
Wendong Zhang, an economist at Cornell University, said that the Chinese economy might suffer a steeper hit to its gross domestic product than the U.S., but it's “likely to stick to its guns” due to internal public support and the ability to increase consumption domestically on goods that might no longer be going to the U.S.
Meanwhile, Trump will need to deal with voters who might be frustrated over the higher price of electronics and other goods resulting from the trade wars.
“Many products that the U.S. imports are predominantly from China: smartphones (73%), laptops (78%), video game consoles (87%), toys (77%), and also antibiotics for U.S. livestock production," Zhang said in an email. “Resourcing from other countries will take time and result in much higher costs.”
President Donald Trump departs after an event in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
