Resolution Numbers

"People need revelation, and then they need resolution." - Damian Lewis

What do we resolve to do each year when a New Year comes upon us? The statistics are actually quite interesting as provided by StatisticBrain.com from 2015. My guess is this list remains fairly consistent year after year and 2016 will be not much different.

1..........Lose Weight
2..........Getting Organized
3..........Spend Less, Save More
4..........Enjoy Life to the Fullest
5..........Staying Fit and Healthy
6..........Learn Something Exciting
7..........Quit Smoking
8..........Help Others in Their Dreams
9..........Fall in Love
10........Spend More Time with Family

How many people make or never make resolutions? The other 17% are those who once in a while decide to make a resolution.

45% - Percent of Americans who usually make New Year's Resolutions
38% - Percent of Americans who absolutely never make New Year's Resolutions

Success rates of those making resolutions.

8% - Percent of people who are successful in achieving their resolution
24% - Percent who never succeed and fail on their resolution each year

As you can see, success rates are low and the majority of people have mixed results. Sort of like life, our achievements are not always exactly as we intended. We try and end up somewhere different after trying.

Yet is is found that people who explicitly make resolutions are ten times more likely to attain their goals than people who don't. Of these people, here are some success rates for selected resolutions people make.

47% - Self Improvement or education related resolutions
38% - Weight related resolutions
34% - Money related resolutions
31% - Relationship related resolutions

Young or old, all of us resolve to do something.

Here are numbers regarding success rates for two different age groups. I would guess the in-between ages have a lot of other things going on in life. Their results are going to be mixed.

For those over 50 could mean we have learned to adjust and the resolution we started on has changed so the accomplishment is different from where we started. Just a thought!

39% - Percent of people in their twenties who achieve their resolution each year
14% - Percent of people over 50 who achieve their resolution each year

Keeping to your resolutions is probably the hardest part.

Life gets in the way, new and brighter shiny things come along and many times our will subsides. Yet in looking at these numbers, I am pleasantly surprised by the reasonable longevity of many folks in working to achieve what they set out to do. The drop-off is not all that surprising either.

75% - Resolution maintained through first week
71% - Past two weeks
64% - Past one month
46% - Past six months

So here we are, five days into the new year and you are feverishly working on you resolution. And my advice is to be as consistent as you can but not to beat yourself up if you need to make adjustments. Life is not going to be consistent. Trying to maintain consistency is like trying to put a square peg in a round hole.

Believe, adjust and realize the accomplishment.

And resolve to stay inspired my friends!

Thirty Days

"I have never heard anything about the resolutions of the apostles, but a good deal about their acts." -Og Mandino

Here are the top ten resolutions made by people each and every year around the world. Not a very surprising list because it covers areas we could all work a little bit on.

1. Spend More Time with Family & Friends
2. Fit in Fitness
3. Tame the Bulge
4. Quit Smoking
5. Enjoy Life More
6. Quit Drinking
7. Get Out of Debt
8. Learn Something New
9. Help Others
10. Get Organized

You have probably selected one, two or more of these resolutions to work on this year. But what I want you to do is stop for just a moment and think about those New Year's resolutions made on December 31st.

Get off the treadmill at the gym. Walk into another room away from your family and friends. Have that one last cigarette and you might as well spend what is left in your wallet. Go ahead and get it out of your system today.

You may wonder why I am telling you to stop working on your resolutions? I am sure it sounds negative for me to be discouraging you at this very moment.

Thirty Days

According to many different surveys, there will be roughly 60 percent of us still going strong with our New Year's resolutions by the end of January. That number will drop to under 50 percent by the month of July. The smoking huts will be lonely this first month or two. Fitness gyms will be teaming over with people and the drinking establishments a little less crowded.

What researchers do know is that your odds of making it to July or the entire year improve simply by getting past the first thirty days. Yes, only thirty days to lose your will and desire to accomplish something great. But make it past that first month and you will have made a huge step forward.

So your target should not be December 31st.

Your target should be January 31st.

Those thirty days should be your goal. Get past those first thirty days and then set another mark for the end of February...only twenty-eight days, very achievable. Pretty soon you will find yourself in July and seeing the year half over.

Do not allow your New Year's resolutions to live for only thirty days. Give those resolutions thirty days to grow and change your life. The rest of the year will come along and if you push yourself to thirty days, life will change. Your acts will overcome your intentions and change your life forever.

Stay inspired my friends.