How to set goals, make resolutions for the new year during a pandemic January 2, 2021 at 7:41 am Seven-foot-tall New Year's Eve numerals on display in Times Square on Dec. 21, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) As a new year arrives, most people around the world are hoping to put 2020 — and all the struggles that came with it — behind them. However, even though the calendar says 2021, Dr. Kira Mauseth, co-lead of the Behavioral Health Strike Team at the Washington State Department of Health, warns that some things from the past year will remain. That said, there can definitely be a renewed sense of hope for the new year.