At the start of the year, there is a belief that each new year brings a new start. This can be felt at the gym, in the grocery store and on social media. However, around 60% of people report that they do not make New Year’s resolutions. Of those that do, by the end of the year, only about 8% stick to them. The first people to set New Year’s resolutions are believed to be the ancient Babylonians around 4,000 years ago.The New Year was celebrated in the middle of March when they planted their crops. A 12-day celebration was held where they made promises to the gods. This practice also occurred in ancient Rome. Here, the New Year was established on the first of January. It was named for Janus, the two-faced god whose spirit inhabited doorways and arches. They believed this god symbolized looking backward into the previous year and forward into the future.
The first thing that needs to be done for New Year’s resolutions is to reflect and set goals. Many people’s goals are built on negative beliefs of themselves or their habits. I recommend that you frame your goals in a more optimistic way. For example, instead of using the words quit, stop or less, use the words include and increase. Many people choose their goals based on what other people’s goals are. It is much harder to achieve a goal that you are not personally passionate about.
Another reason why goals are hard to achieve is that they are too vague or too absolute. An example of a vague goal would be, “I am going to exercise more.” This is setting oneself up for failure because there is no measurable way to know if it was achieved. On the other hand, an example of an absolute goal is, “I will exercise three times per week.” This goal does not have any grace built into it. Research has shown that people are more likely to stick to their goal if it is a range. For example, “I will go to the gym two to four days per week.” To set attainable goals, it is recommended to break one big goal down into smaller goals. It is also important to make a plan for how to achieve these goals.
Once you start working towards your goals, not achieving them can cause anxiety and lower feelings of self-worth. However, there are also positives to New Year’s resolutions when done right. Setting goals can be good for our mental health as it can increase motivation and productivity. If committing to something for an entire year sounds too daunting, there is evidence suggesting other benefits to shortening goals to 12 weeks instead of 12 months.This idea is explained in “The 12 Week Year.” The idea is that you can set a goal for the next 12 weeks and then break down those weeks to work on smaller goals. It increases urgency and allows more things to be tried, allowing reflection to happen four times each year. Although mainly researched and written about in business, this could potentially be something added to anyone’s daily life. This plan has flipped the year on its head, it may also flip New Year’s resolutions on its head as well.
New Year’s Resolutions have the opportunity to impact us positively or negatively. If you made a New Year’s Resolution, and are having a hard time sticking to it, instead of reflecting again at the end of the year, it could be beneficial to reflect 12 weeks into this year and this goal.