NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS

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?)

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?