Have you made your New Year’s resolutions yet this year? If not, are you going to?
If you answered yes, you are among the 45 percent of Americans who usually make resolutions for the New Year. Another 17 percent infrequently join in with a resolution while 38 percent of Americans refuse (make a resolution?) not to participate.
Top resolution picks in 2014 included losing weight, getting organized, having better control of finances, staying fit, and learning something new or exciting.
So what should you do? If you’re asking that question, it may mean you shouldn’t do anything at all. Statistically, only 8 percent of resolvers succeed with their plans each year, while 24 percent fail to follow through on their resolutions.
If not succeeding is going to frustrate you or give you a sense of failure, you might want to pass this year. But if you do choose to make a resolution, statistics suggest that your chances of achieving your goals are 10 times higher than if you don’t make a resolution at all.
I personally prefer EmpowHER founder Michelle King Robson’s idea of making declarations rather than resolutions. Michelle uses a three-step process to create a declaration:
1) Evaluate what you’ve already accomplished.
For me, this may mean celebrating an accomplishment, acknowledging progress I’m making toward a goal or recognizing that I really don’t like the direction I set for myself. It’s okay for me to decide to choose another path, as long as I do it thoughtfully.
2) Think about what you want to accomplish in the coming year or longer.
This part may seem like making a resolution, whether it’s to lose weight or get out of debt. But I think this is a more thoughtful process. I don’t want to make a snap decision or jot down a list on the back of an envelope and call it done.
I want to take the time to examine what is really important to me. What ideas or aspirations do I keep suppressing that just won’t go away? This is my chance to take them out, dust them off and give them the serious consideration they deserve.
If I’m honest with myself, I may find a passion that will boost me into the New Year and beyond.
3) Declare it.
This is the hard part – the part where I have to be brave enough to let what is important to me go public. When you declare something, say it out loud. Say it to yourself and say it in front of other people.
Let the world know that this is important to you and that you are going to do something about it.
The start of a new year can be a time of anticipation as you look forward to exciting new opportunities or chances to make improvements in your life. But the New Year can also bring sadness if you look back with regret on the year that is coming to an end.
Ultimately only you can decide whether making resolutions or declarations is a great motivator that will help make the New Year better than the old, or if making resolutions means setting yourself up for failure.
Whatever you decide, here’s to a happy and prosperous New Year!
Sources:
EmpowHER. New Year, New Life: Make Your Declaration. Michelle King Robson. Web. December 28, 2014.
https://www.empowher.com/wellness/content/new-year-new-life-make-your-de...
Statistic Brain. New Years Resolution Statistics. Web. December 28, 2014.
http://www.statisticbrain.com/new-years-resolution-statistics
Reviewed December 30, 2014
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith