It’s
that time of the year when we make our resolutions for the coming year. Things
that will make our life better in some way. Actually, by the time this is up
most of you, who are making your annual resolutions, have already made
them. I’ve never been very good at
keeping New Year’s resolutions. In fact, I can’t remember when I actually made
any. So in order to write about it, I visited my old friend Google.
Instead
of writing new resolutions, Mark Zuckerberg is crowdsourcing for New Year’s
resolutions on Facebook for new ideas about what “personal challenge” he should
take. In the past, he vowed to do things like write a thank you note to someone
who made the world better each day and to learn to speak Mandarin, which he
did. I don’t know what he’ll choose this year.
According to USA gov. the most
popular resolutions are: 1. Lose weight. (One I used to make.) 2. Volunteer to
help others. (I do that with Mobile Meals.) 3. Quit smoking. (Doesn’t apply to
me. Never smoked.) 4. Get a better education. (Mine is good enough.) 5. Get a
better job. (Better than being retired and a writer? I think not.) 6. Save
money. (I could work on that.) 7. Get fit. (I walk every morning.) 8. Eat
healthy food. (I try and most of the time I do.) 9. Manage stress. (I pretty
much do with a few mild cuss words occasionally.) 10. Manage debt. (Not too bad
at it, although I could do better, but only if I gave up some things I enjoy.)
11. Take a trip. (I do several every year.) 12. Reduce, reuse and recycle. (Oh
boy, am I good at that. I’ve been recycling for over 40 years and my kids think
I’m a pack rat for what I save because I know it will come in handy someday. And
it usually does.) 13. Drink less alcohol. (Give up my half glass of wine once a
month at my evening book club?)
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From
the STATISTIC BRAIN, the New Year’s resolution statistics for the top 10
resolutions for 2014 were in order. #1 - Lose weight. #2 – Getting organized.
#3 - Spend less, save more. #4 - Enjoy life to the fullest. #5 - Stay fit and
healthy. #6 - Learn something exciting. #7 - Quit smoking. #8 - Help others in
their dreams. #9 - Fall in love. #10 - Spend more time with family.
I
think about getting organized and sometimes I even try. Lose weight? Yeah, but
it requires work. Same with staying fit. Learn something exciting? How
exciting? Are they thinking of something like sky diving? Handling poisonous
snakes? No thank you. Enjoy life to the fullest. I think I do, but of course
what is to the fullest for me may not be what others would think it is. Help
others in their dreams. Kind of a vague concept, isn’t it? Doesn’t it depend on
what others dreams are? Fall in love? Not interested.
Another
New Year’s Resolution Statistic from the STATISTIC BRAIN lists percentages.
Only 45% of Americans usually make New Year’s resolutions, 17% of Americans
infrequently make resolutions, and 38% of Americans absolutely never make them.
Only 8% of Americans are successful in achieving their resolution, although 49%
do have infrequent success. 24% never succeed on their resolutions
The
type of resolution matters, too. Those who make self-improvement or education
related resolutions have a 47% chance of meeting their goal. Weight related
resolution only have a 38% chance of meeting their goal. Money related
resolutions drop to 34% and relationship related resolutions only a 31% chance
of meeting their goal.
Age
plays into it. People in their twenties have a 39% chance of meeting their goal
and for anyone over thirty their success rate drops to 14%.
The
length of the success with resolutions: 75% succeed the first week. Only 7l%
last past two weeks. It drops to 64% past one month and only 46% make it past
six months.
Christopher
Hale, a senior fellow at Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and
co-founder of Millennial, had some ideas of what Pope Francis would suggest –
not for losing pounds, but what will help our world.
1.
Have
a big heart open to God and open to others.
2.
Find
joy and share it with others.
3.
Become
poor for the poor.
Christopher
Hale wrote more under each of those possible resolutions. To read more on Pope Francis’s thoughts and
words that made Hale think those would be resolutions he would suggest, Google
New Year’s Resolutions under TIME Ideas to read it in detail. I like them.
Do
you make New Year’s Resolutions? What are they if you do?
I have objectives for the year, but I also have resolutions about two health items, exercise and weight. I wrote a blog about those two goals for last year (with charts and graphs).
ReplyDeleteIf anyone is interested it’s here.
Jim, those two resolutions don't come just at New Years for me. I think about it often and work at it - sort of. I try to skip all unhealthy foods and most of the time I do, but there are times when I cave to something that tastes so good and quite decadent. I know I should do more exercise than my daily walks, too. And I'm going to. I really am. Tomorrow I'll start.
ReplyDeleteI made a resolution years ago not to make any more resolutions. I'm still keeping it!
ReplyDeleteWarren, I love your resolution. It's much what I did, too, although I didn't actually make the resolution.
ReplyDeleteYour post puts a lot of things into perspective, Gloria. It's strange that Lose Weight tops Enjoy Life to the Fullest on the list of resolutions. I read that Brooke Shields was asked about her diet and she said she doesn't deny herself desserts; she just has half and shares the rest. I think that's a good approach!
ReplyDeleteI'm adopting Warren's resolution - no resolutions! That one I can keep.
Usually I make a fun and easily achievable New Year's Resolution, but I didn't this year. I heard that Mark Zuckerberg's challenge in 2015 is to read a new book every other week. He created a Facebook page called "A Year of Books" so others can follow along.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteShari, I think the lose weight tops the list because most of us feel guilty about how much we ate over the holidays. I lost the most weight when I started backpacking, but sadly those days are over now.
Kara, I heard that about Mark Zuckerberg's challenge, too. I read it after I wrote the blog. Of course, I don't need any encouragement to read. It's one of my favorite things to do.
Mark Zuckerberg's New Year's project is to read a new book at least every other week, and discuss it on his Facebook page. He's calling it the Year of Books.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great resolution to me!
KM, it does to me,too, for those who don't read many books, it's a great resolution. I read at least 5 to 7 books a month so I'm more than meeting his goal.
ReplyDeleteSorry for being late to comment, Gloria. I've been lost in a story!
ReplyDeleteI don't make resolutions, but I know what my writing goals are--perhaps it is a matter of semantics, maybe it's saying them aloud or writing them down--I won't do any of that. I've seen too many people go to the gym in January, when they crowd in, only to find less crowds by April. The fact is, they help keep down the cost for the rest of the regulars. So thanks, resolutioners.
No more resolutions, make life changes that stem from who you are! It's easier when you're doing something that is already an essence of your soul.