New Years resolution tips

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New Year’s resolution tips!

Make 2014 a REAL new you!

On Jan. 1 many of us make all kinds of promises that “starting tomorrow, things are going to be different.” There is the old (2013 self) and the new (2014 self), and Jan. 1 is an opportunity to welcome the new, improved self in. As the New Year starts, we say to ourselves that the new, 2014 self will be different. We’re confident that from now on we won’t hit snooze, we’ll stop procrastinating and for sure we won’t mindlessly eat unhealthy snacks.

This kind of self-resolve is the kind of magic that keeps mankind moving. Unfortunately, come mid-January, the shiny “new self” doesn’t feel as new. After a few weeks of crashing against reality and old habit, the new self is bruised and sainted.

 Given these challenges, how can we take advantage of our good intentions on Jan. 1 and make them work for us throughout the year, or at least for longer than they would naturally last?

 One simple answer is to take advantage of these moments of clarity at the start of the New Year and take actions that would commit us to making good decisions in the future. This way, even if our future will tempt us to misbehave, we will not be able to act on our temptations.

Here are a few ideas that might help you make Jan. 1, 2014, different from Jan. 1 of years past:

• Order an annual subscription to the Fruit Guy. By committing to a weekly service that delivers fresh fruit, we make having healthy food a reality. This approach has the added sweet side effect of urgency. Every week when the fruit is delivered, we know all too well that if we fail to consume the fruit in the next week, more of it will show up and we will have to waste the unused fruit. And if you like real adventures, what about a more extreme version of this? A weekly subscription to the Kale Guy?
• Give a good friend the ability to take some money from your bank account if you break your diet. Tell this friend that if he sees you eating something unhealthy, he should withdraw a specified amount of money from your checking account and spend it. And if you find that this is not sufficiently painful, either make the amount larger, or make the deal with someone you don’t like that much (maybe your boss).
• Set up an automatic monthly transfer from your checking account into a savings account. This quick, onetime decision to transfer money will help you spend within your budget, while also helping your future financial security.
• Working out every day takes a lot of ongoing willpower. Joining a gym is nice but still requires the daily decision to go to the gym. Instead, a better approach is to set up recurring weekly “meetings” with friends or co-workers for workouts. This kind of social obligation is likely to hold you, and them, accountable to show up, and once you have shown up, you might as well start sweating.
• Go to the nearby shelter and get a dog. Once you make this quick onetime decision, you are going to go for daily walks for the next decade.

Doing all of these things would make Jan. 1 a very busy day. But, by doing these things when the desire to start fresh is still strong in our mind, there is a much better chance that our good intentions will keep serving us for the better part of 2014.

New year’s resolution statistics.

Statistic Verification

Source: University of Scranton. Journal of Clinical Psychology

Published: 12.13.2013

Rank: Top new Years resolutions for 2014

1.     Losing weight

2.     Getting organized

3.     Spend less and save more

4.     Enjoy life to the fullest

5.     Staying fit and healthy

6.     Learn something exciting

7.     Quit smoking

8.     Help others

9.     Fall in love

10.  Spend more time with family

News Years Resolution Statistics  

Percent of Americans who usually make New Year’s Resolutions         45%

Percent of Americans who infrequently make New Year’s Resolutions   17%

Percent of Americans who absolutlely never make New Year’s Resolutions  38%

Percent of people who are successful in achieving their resolution         8%

Percent who have infrequent success     49%

Percent who never succeed and fail on their resolution each year         24%

People who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t explicitly make resolutions        

Type of Resolutions          

Self Improvement or education related resolutions     47%

Weight related resolutions        38%

Money related resolutions        34%

Relationship related resolutions       31%

Age Success Rates     

Percent of people in their twenties who achieve their resolution each year        39%

Percent of people over 50 who achieve their resolution each year         14%

Length of Resolutions       

Resolution maintained through first week     75%

Past two weeks    71%

Past one month   64%

Past six months   46%

Don’t become another statistic! Beat the odds and pick a goal that will be achievable, manageable, and ultimately better your life!