The Benefits of New Year’s Resolutions
Your chances are good your life will improve.
Every year, since I was a teenager, my mother and I sat at the kitchen table and wrote our new year’s resolutions. It was a ritual I looked forward to.
We wanted to be better than we were the year before.
I can’t say we always succeeded but the act of setting goals, taking stock of our current circumstances helped us see clearly into the new year.
Now days away from 2024, I want to speak to the benefits of creating and sharing New Year’s resolutions.
5 benefits from New Year’s resolutions:
1. You clarify your goals: The very act of writing resolutions clarifies your personal goals and keeps you motivated and focused.
2. You move toward self-Improvement: Most resolutions are about self-improvement. They are related to health, personal growth and/or skill development. When we decide to lose weight or get more exercise we feel better about ourselves.
3. You become accountable: Any time we share our resolutions with some one else — like my sharing my new year’s goals with my mother — we are held accountable. The more others know about our goals the more we are inclined to work towards them and try to meet them.
4. You create positive habits: Many resolutions involve forming new, positive habits or breaking old, negative ones. By focusing on these habits, you can gradually make long-lasting changes that improve your overall quality of life.
5. You celebrate your progress: If you are able to make changes in your life from your new year’s resolutions you can celebrate and feel a sense of pride and satisfaction. Throughout the year you will sense a boost in your self-esteem and it will continue to motivate you to set new goals.
Now, having said that, research suggests action-oriented goals are more successful than avoidant-oriented goals.
If you are giving up drinking or certain unhealthy foods chances are you may find these resolutions harder to achieve than if you resolve to eat more apples, or walk to work instead of drive.
Action-oriented resolutions [like signing up for yoga classes] are more achievable because you make a clear commitment.
Avoidant-oriented resolution’s [like giving up drinking or sweets] are less successful but if you tell your friends you’re doing it, chances are you will try harder.
Both action-oriented and avoidant-oriented resolutions do change lives. Declaring to give up something or add a positive activity to your life helps you and boosts your self-esteem.
In 2023, Forbes conducted a Health survey and found that the average new year’s resolution lasted about 4 months. When you think about it, that is not a bad average. A small percentage of people in the survey kept their resolutions throughout the year.
On the flip side, there are several unofficial dates around New Year’s Resolutions.
January 17th is “Ditch New Year’s Resolutions Day” and the second Friday in January is called “Quitter’s Day.”
On a more postive note, June 1st is known as “New Year’s Resolution Recommitment Day.”
On this day, you have the opportunity to take stock of where you are with your resolutions and hit the reset button.
So there you have it.
Setting personal goals for yourself in the New Year is beneficial.
Action-oriented ones are more likely to be successful but resolutions in general are good thing especially if you tell someone your resolutions.
