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Why Most New Year's Resolutions Fail |
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| December, 2005 |
| Fred Tutwiler & Cindy Sink |
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This article appeared in the January, 2006 issue of Natural Awakenings magazine.
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It’s a tradition that invokes everything from suspicion to delight to resignation, has a success rate something akin to winning the lottery and has the power to launch complete strangers into confessions of guilt, failure, and dark humor usually reserved for therapists and very close friends.
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On a recent working vacation to Nassau, I polled about 150 cruise passengers between the ages of 13 and 87. I asked them 1) Did they plan to make a New Year’s Resolution? 2) if “No”, why not? And 3) if “Yes”, how long did they think it would last? My somewhat unscientific survey told an interesting story.
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Most of the people I queried--about 65%-- didn’t plan to make a resolution. Their most common reason, spoken with varying degrees of humor and hostility, was some version of “What’s the point?” However, when I asked, “What would you resolve if you knew you had a 75% chance of success?” things got interesting. At that point, people were willing to go for new relationships, new careers, romance, adventure and tackling lifetime dreams. Well, now, that’s worth a raised eyebrow!
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Could it be that, if it looks like we might win, we’ll go for all kinds of great stuff in our lives? But if we think we might fail, we’ll just keep on doing the same old stuff we’ve always done? Hmmmm.
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Of those who did intend to make a resolution, only a small number (something like 1 out of 10) actually thought they would succeed. The rest, stoically or hopefully, embraced a more resigned “what the heck--maybe this year will be different” approach.
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Interestingly enough, that small percentage of people who approached their NYR with gusto and determination thought they would succeed. In fact, these folks seemed to embody a “Bring it on!” approach to life in general. The most profound response I got from the “Bring It Ons” was from a 14-year-old girl who said:
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“I’m either going to convince myself I’m a slacker or I’m going to convince myself I’m all over it (teen-speak for ‘I’m in complete control!’). Why would I want to be a slacker?” Somehow she knew the secret.
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