Should you bother setting a new year’s resolution?
Maybe you have set one in the past and thought “what’s the point?” It’s just something we do on New Year’s Eve as part of tradition, right? Or is there actually something to it?
In preparation for this week’s mindset episode I did some research to see what the statistics for New Year’s resolutions looked like.
What percentage of people make New Year’s Resolutions? What percentage of people keep them? And what percentage of people that don’t make New Year’s Resolutions actually make progress despite the lack of a resolution?
When conducting the research I came across this scientific paper. The study and the results were really interesting (well at least for me).
In the paper, the researchers called up people randomly in the phone book between the 26th December and 31st December 1995. They simply asked if the person was intending to set a new year’s resolution. They then asked the person whether they would be okay for a set of follow up interviews at regular intervals throughout the year.
The researchers did their best to keep the study as unbiased as possible. For this experiment, it seems almost impossible to do so. But, they tried to keep a control group and remove ambiguity where they could.
In the end the results were fairly conclusive. Setting a resolution had a fairly high correlation with success.
I was surprised by the results because anecdotally I would tend to say most people fail on their resolutions.
Whether you are looking at anecdotal evidence or research papers there is definitely something you can get out of setting a new year’s resolution. And it’s not just simply the result of what you plan to do for the resolution.
There is something to be said for setting a resolution, whatever it may be, and simply seeing it through. Check out today’s podcast to see what I mean. Listen to hear why you should rethink your process of selecting a new year’s resolution.
Other episodes mentioned in this podcast:
Quote from the episode:
“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.” – Abraham Lincoln.
What is your new year’s resolution?
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