Is 2023 going to be your year?
Have you uttered the phrase, “New Year, new me?”
Are you the kind of person to make a resolution, or maybe more than one?
Well, if so, you may want to stop reading this column now. According to a recent study, 38.5 percent of American adults make a New Year’s resolution and that number increased to 59 percent of young adults between the ages of 18-35.
The most common resolution, as most would guess, is to lose weight or live healthier. A resolution diet or exercise plan accounts for 48 percent of all resolutions. Of people who make a self-promise to exercise more or lose weight, 23 percent quit after one week and 36 percent don’t last a month.
Some other resolutions do tend to last a little longer. People who resolved to spend more time with family/friends, do more volunteer work, and cut back their screen time tend to have more success.
Overall, only nine percent of people who make resolutions succeed at the end of a year.
The most common reasons why people fail at keeping resolutions are lack of will power, lack of motivation, being too busy to focus on the task, shifting goals/priorities.
So why do we partake in the annual New Year’s ritual at all?
Perhaps it’s because we all want something to challenge us at the start of a new year. Maybe it’s because we all want to be the best versions of ourselves and over the course of the year we lose track. Or maybe it’s as simple as “everyone else is doing it.”
While there are still 361 days left in 2023 to make it “your year” there is no better time to get started making positive life changes than the present. Do whatever is on your mind with conviction and a positive mindset and success is bound to follow.
And don’t worry if that pesky 10 pounds is still around on Feb. 1. Statistics say that’s totally normal.