New Year's Eve comes just once a year, and with each countdown from 10 comes a new year, full of new hope and new promise. Every year, without fail, people make resolutions on how to improve their life in the coming months. These resolutions normally fail.
It makes a lot of sense that people would take advantage of a new year to make a fresh start. But the truth of the matter is, there is not a magical switch that changes a life around from December to January. The only way to make a true life change is to change your behavior and thinking. And that is much easier said than done.
One study has shown that six months into the New Year, just 46 percent of New Year's resolutions have been maintained.
According to About.com, the ten most common resolutions include trying to spend more time with family and friends, start exercising, lose weight, stop smoking, get more joy out of life, stop drinking alcohol, get out of debt, learn a new skill, volunteer, and get more organized.
All of these resolutions seem typical. They are all things that people want to accomplish. The thing people do not understand is that it does not need to be New Year's for them to make a resolution. It seems people need a celebration to initiate the changes that they want to make.
Losing weight is something that people who need to lose weight should be doing at a healthy pace, on their own time. And quitting drinking and smoking are far too important to make a resolution.
Basically, resolutions are a marketing tool for people to fully celebrate and bring in the new year. Unfortunately, people normally don't keep up with their promises to themselves. Resolutions put a lot of pressure on a person to succeed in the new year, while taking a day-by-day approach probably has a much higher success rate.
