It’s
well known that New Year’s resolutions don’t have a high success rate. While
many people opt to ditch the annual goal-setting event, about 40 to 45 percent
of adults set at least one resolution come New Year’s.
Unfortunately
for many, the results turn into a pattern: January 1, we start off determined
to follow through on our goals. Excited and energized, we think that this year
will be different from the last, when our resolutions went by the wayside. But
come February or even mid-January, the majority of us have abandoned our goals
altogether.
So
why do we continue to make resolutions every year even though so few of us
follow through?
One reason is the allure of starting from scratch. “The
beginning of the year offers a fresh start and a clean slate,” according to Nona Jordan, the idea of bettering
ourselves is another motivator.
Most of us have a natural bent toward
self-improvement. And even though the New Year is an illogical
date, it “gives us time and a goal date to prepare for the
change, to fire up for the shifts we plan to make.”
Moreover,
it may have something to do with “Tradition! Tradition! Tradition,” as the
characters in the musical Fiddler On The Roof famously
sing. Setting New Year’s resolutions is believed to go as far back as
Babylonian times. It’s said that Julius Caesar started the tradition of making
resolutions on January 1st as a way to honor the Roman mythical god Janus,
whose two faces allowed him to look back into the past year and forward to the
new year. Romans mostly made morality-based resolutions, such as seeking
forgiveness from their enemies.
Wanting
to make resolutions is a good thing. “The fact that people keep making
resolutions even when they don’t always follow through ultimately means that
they have hope and a certain level of belief in their ability to change and be
more of who they really want to be,”
Some
research confirms that setting a resolution can get you closer to your goals.
One study found that 46 percent of individuals who made resolutions were
successful compared to four percent who wanted to achieve a certain goal and
considered it but didn’t actually create a resolution.
If
you’d like to give resolution-making another go, Wait for our next article on setting successful resolutions or
attend with us our career coaching program.
http://psychcentral.com
Well Said Yara :)
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