New Year’s Resolutions…. Ugh…I know! Lose weight. Work out more. Learn to cook..oh wait, this isn’t supposed to be about me. But those are a few examples of New Year’s resolutions that are likely made by thousands of people every January 1st.
Wikipedia tells us that “A New Year’s resolution is a tradition, most common in the Western Hemisphere but also found in the Eastern Hemisphere, in which a person makes a promise to do an act of self-improvement or something slightly nice, such as opening doors for people beginning from New Year’s Day”.
The most popular resolutions tend to be around physical appearance – whether that be the dreaded diet or to exercise more, financial or education. However, the success rate of resolutions is not great. Research shows that the most common reason for participants failing their New Years’ Resolutions was setting themselves unrealistic goals (35%), while 33% didn’t keep track of their progress and a further 23% forgot about it. About one in ten claimed they made too many resolutions.
A 2007 study by Richard Wiseman from the University of Bristol involving 3,000 people showed that 88% of those who set New Year resolutions fail, despite the fact that 52% of the study’s participants were confident of success at the beginning. Men achieved their goal 22% more often when they engaged in goal setting, (a system where small measurable goals are being set; such as, a pound a week, instead of saying “lose weight”), while women succeeded 10% more when they made their goals public and got support from their friends.
One of the keys to success when it comes to New Year’s Resolutions is to be specific. Setting the goal to be better with money or be healthy – well what does that mean? However, breaking it down into something manageable and measureable such as drinking more water, going for a walk every day, saving 10% of each pay cheque – keeping it specific is easier to keep track of.
It’s also important to remember that resolutions can be the smallest of things. Maybe it’s to smile more, say thank you or taking more time for yourself. There is also the debate on whether it’s best to announce your resolutions. Some believe that if you tell someone, you might be more likely to work on and fulfill the goal because people are watching – or you have those in your life that will assume you’ll fail and you want to prove them wrong. Others think that if you keep it to yourself, then no one is the wiser if you do it or not. But in the end, how you feel about yourself is actually all that matters.
