Staying Focused in 2025
Glenda @ Mitchell News
Be intentional about what you choose to do. Be intentional about actually doing it.
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Staying Focused in 2025
New Year Resolutions – a triumph of hope over experience
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*Hot Off The Press*
As the last newsletter for 2024, this one is a long one.
During the Get fit? Lose Weight? Run a Marathon zoom event I shared my experiences as an accidental runner. I had planned to focus session on marathons but broadened the scope to help a range of people who wish to get fit and healthy. In addition to presenting tips around dealing with taking on a new challenge, participants discussed the challenges of training for multiple events, the importance of perseverance in achieving fitness goals, and the logistics of participating in international marathons.
January is a given name. It is derived from Janus, a Roman god who stood for beginnings and transitions. As the old year draws to a close and we transition into the new year, a myriad of new opportunities are opened to us.
Last newsletter I made reference to the group coaching program that I am running in early 2025 to help you put in place a plan to Live Life with Intention & Passion. The first 4 sessions will take participants through a process to define where they would like to be and put in place the actions to get there. I will then facilitate 4 bonus session where the community will support each other in implementing the actions – encouraging and holding each other accountable.
I have decided to begin the program in January to take advantage of the work slump at the beginning of the year and also to increase the success rate of new year resolutions. As you’ll read further on, whilst almost three quarters of the population make new year resolutions, only 8% of those that make them stick to it. I’d like to see that percentage increased in 2025, at least for those with whom I come in contact.
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*New Year Resolutions”
As we welcome in 2025, a common activity across many cultures is the setting of new year resolutions. The new year represents a significant temporal milestone in the calendar when many people set new goals for the year ahead.
Every new year, people write a list of resolutions. Some are practical (floss teeth), while others are a bit of a stretch (climb mountain). These promises to themselves run the gamut — from physical to mental, possible to improbable.
I don’t have the number for 2025 yet, but this time last year revealed 73% of Australians – equivalent to 14.8 million people – set a New Year’s resolution for 2024. A survey the previous year showed a similar number.
Apparently women (79%) are more likely than men (66%) to set goals for the new year.
New Year’s resolutions are also more popular with younger generations. Only half (52%) of baby boomers set themselves a resolution. This is compared to 92% of gen Z and 83% of millennials.
New Year’s resolutions are not unique to Australia but are a common practice around the world from North America to Asia
Source: Finder Consumer Sentiment Tracker, December 2023
What are the most common New Year’s resolutions?
It’s a baker’s dozen of good intentions, including: drink less alcohol, eat healthy food, get a better education, get a better job, get fit, manage debt and manage stress.
Diet and exercise-related resolutions are by far the most common, with Aussies keen for a healthy start to the year. The survey found more than 1 in 3 (39%) pledged to adopt healthier eating habits. 36% were motivated to improve their fitness, whilst 33% were committed to losing weight.
Rest and leisure were other common themes. 19% said they would strive to sleep more, while 17% committed to travel overseas. 1 in 10 (10%) intended to have a better work-life balance in 2024.
Health based resolutions are the most popular resolutions with millennials and gen Z. 57% of gen Z are committed to eating healthier, 41% for improving fitness and 33% to losing weight. For millennials, 44% want to eat healthier while 42% aim to improve their fitness and 38% would like to lose weight.
Research across the globe tells us that making resolutions is by no means limited to Australia. Every New Year, thousands of people around the world make resolutions.
Combining research from Harris Interactive Poll (2013) & Nielsen research (2015) gives a list ofTen Most Common Resolutions:
- Stop smoking
- Lose weight
- Spend more time with family and friends
- Learn something new
- Read more
- Stop/reduce drinking alcohol
- Eat healthier
- Manage stress better
- Improve relationships
- Improve procrastination
A Historical Look at New Year’s Resolutions
So how did it all begin? Turns out, it isn’t just a modern concept. New year pledges or promises are not new. This practice has been around for some time, but it hasn’t always looked the way it does today.
The Babylonians
Historically, the first recorded people to set new year pledges (later to become known as resolutions) are the Ancient Babylonians.
Though for the Babylonians in Mesopotamia 4,000 years ago, the year began not in January, but at the start of the spring planting season in March. New year resolutions for the Babylonians were intertwined with religion, mythology, power, and socioeconomic values.
The Babylonians are said to have initiated the tradition of a 12-day new year festival called Akitu. During this massive celebration, they probably didn’t make any promises to exercise more, save more money, or start a new hobby. The Babylonians would usually pledge their loyalty to the king and made promises to pay their debts and returned borrowed items to their rightful owners. If the Babylonians kept to their word, their (pagan) gods would bestow favour on them for the coming year. If not, they would fall out of the gods’ favour—a place no one wanted to be.
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome continued the tradition of setting new year pledges. The Roman new year was initially celebrated on March 15 (The Ides of March), as this was the time the most important Roman officials (Consuls) took office.
In ancient Rome in 46 B.C., Emperor Julius Caesar introduced a new calendar – the Julian Calendar – and declared January 1 as the start of the new year.
Named to honour Janus, the two-faced god whose spirit inhabited doorways and arches, January had special significance for the Romans. Symbolically, Janus has two faces, to look back on the previous year and to look forward into the new year. Janus was the protector of doors, archways, thresholds and transitions into new beginnings.
Each new year Romans would offer sacrifices to Janus and made resolutions of good conduct for the coming year.
Medieval Resolutions
New Year’s resolutions continued into the Middle Ages (around 500 to 1500 A.D.). Knights would make an annual “Peacock Vow” at the end of the year. They would renew their resolution to maintain the values of knighthood by putting their hands on a live or roasted peacock.
In the Middle Ages, new year was celebrated by different societies at different times of the year. Due to a timing miscalculation, the Julian calendar had resulted in seven extra days by the year 1000.
To solve problems associated with the Julian calendar, the Gregorian calendar was instigated by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. The new year was officially reinstated to January 1.
Modern Times
In the 18th century, Christians would hold mass on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day. Worshippers could reflect on the past year and make resolutions to do better in the year ahead.
For early Christians, the first day of the new year became the traditional occasion for thinking about one’s past mistakes and resolving to do and be better in the future. In 1740, the English clergyman John Wesley, founder of Methodism, created the watch night service, most commonly held on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day. These services were spent praying and making resolutions for the coming year.
Religion continued to exert a significant social and cultural influence on the purpose and function of people’s new year pledges. For instance, in the 19th century, Protestantism emphasised setting pledges strongly aligned to religion, spirituality, and moral character.
Contemporary resolutions tend to be more secular than religious or societal in nature. Most people make resolutions only to themselves, and focus purely on self-improvement. It’s unclear when exactly we began to pledge to ourselves that in the coming year we would lose weight, get our finances in order, or leave behind any one of a number of unsavoury habits.
In the 1800s there is some evidence resolutions were beginning to be satirised. For instance, a series of satirical resolutions were being reported in the Walker’s Hibernian Magazine (1802), “Statesmen have resolved to have no other object in view than the good of their country”.
In 1813, a Boston newspaper published the first recorded use of the phrase ‘New Year resolution’:
“And yet, I believe there are multitudes of people, accustomed to receive injunctions of new year resolutions, who will sin all the month of December, with a serious determination of beginning the new year with new resolutions and new behaviour, and with the full belief that they shall thus expiate and wipe away all their former faults.”
The writing of this unknown author seems to indicate two things: we have been making New Year promises to ourselves for over 200 years, and people in the early 19th century—much like those today—used them as an excuse for misbehaviour up to New Year’s Eve.
The other factor that resolutions today seem to have in common with pledges and promises of the past is that they are hard to follow through on.
Made to be broken
Are you someone who’s made “exercise more” and “lose weight” resolutions (more than once)? Do you wonder whether other people don’t keep their resolutions? You may be relived to discover that the answer appears to be a resounding “yes.”
Whew.
Resolutions are easy to set and it appears even easier to break. Unfortunately, most New Year’s resolutions end up being abandoned.
According to recent research, as many as 45 percent of the population say they usually make New Year’s resolutions.
Richard Wiseman, a psychologist and author with a penchant for mass participation experiments, discovered that 52 percent of people making New Year’s resolutions were confident they’d stick it out.
Research indicates that only 8 percent are successful in achieving their goals. Less conservative estimates – best case – put this figure at 20%.
According to global research conducted by Strava (an internet service for tracking physical exercise), January 12 is the date you are most likely to break your resolution.
Then why bother?
New Year’s resolutions are, “a triumph of hope over experience”. They’re a way to quantify what we wish for ourselves. They are a means to cataloguing our personal dissatisfactions. And, perhaps most importantly, they are a method of erasing errors of the past year.
New year resolutions continue to capture people’s imagination, hopes, and promises for betterment. Even after 4,000 years, the new year continues to symbolise a new threshold. An opportunity for a fresh start.
How to stick to your resolutions
What if you have found that hope is not enough? That you are dissatisfied at being one of the 92% of those that made a resolution at the beginning of 2024 and broke it. How can you be one of the 8% (or can we hope for more?) that achieve their resolutions in 2025?
Turns out, simply wanting to change is not enough; you need to make it stick.
What’s the secret to keeping them?
The success of your New Year’s resolutions starts with your head. Making an intentional decision to do it. And follows with the heart. The satisfaction you feel when you actually do it.
Limit the number
Limiting yourself to a few resolutions, maybe even one, is one thing to keep in mind. It’s tempting to make a list of ‘to-dos,’ but that list will easily be overwhelming and you will end up frustrated.
If you start kicking some goals, you can always add to the list during the year.
Share your resolution with others
Many resolutions include overcoming bad habits, such as smoking, overeating or too much alcohol consumption. These could be tough because they are easy to rely on when stressed out.
“While these vices are especially difficult to overcome, they can be beaten,” said Michael Kitchens, assistant professor of psychology at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania. “One of the best ways is to have a social support system.”
In other words, when you’re feeling stressed, call a friend rather than open a bottle of red wine.
“When you keep resolutions a secret, no one is going to check up on you. You’re only accountable to yourself,” said Joe Ferrari, professor of psychology at DePaul University in Chicago. I have never tried the approach, but he suggested that a party to publicly share your resolutions is an admirable way to ring in the New Year. Social media offers another avenue to let others in on your goals.
Once you’ve involved others in your resolutions, you are more likely to take steps to ensure that when they do check up on you, you have something positive to report. Just remember that the more people you share it with, the more will be watching. If you start struggling, you don’t want to be demotivated by too many people making your feel a failure.
If your resolution involves fitness or weight loss, perhaps you can find a friend that you can meet for a walk instead of a meal.
Set a goal that is challenging, but manageable.
This is a sensitive balance that really can only be made by each person.
Overly ambitious goals can drain a person’s confidence when they’re not met. Instead, build on small, observable victories and possibly achieve bigger goals down the line.
Be specific.
You can’t achieve your goal if you don’t know what it means!
Instead of saying you’re going to “eat better”, figure out what this means to you. Maybe your goal is to eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day or replace soft drinks with sparkling water. Perhaps it is to lose 5km by 1 March.
If your goal is financial, rather than saying “save money” you could aim to save $50 from every pay.
Being specific will help you stick to your goal and track your progress.
Celebrate successes
Whatever goals you do tackle, be sure to monitor your progress. If your resolution is to lose weight, check your weight regularly. If it’s to save money, write down where you’ve spent your money. Monitoring those few, challenging goals you set will dramatically improve your success rate.
Sometimes, just the act of recording everything you eat or spend can cause you to eat or spend less even if you don’t consciously change anything else
Be consistent.
Nobody is perfect, and it’s okay to fall off the bandwagon every once in a while. The important thing is that you get back on track and keep looking forward. Getting down on yourself or dwelling on your lost progress will only make achieving your goal more difficult in the long run.
Just because you had a piece of cake on 2 January 2025 doesn’t mean you have to wait until 1 January 2026 to adopt a healthy eating plan.
Take it one step at a time.
“Don’t try and do everything,” he said. “Take things on one at a time.”
You can’t go from zero to hero straight away. If you’re struggling with the money basics, becoming a share trading whiz might not be the best resolution for you. Focus on learning how to budget, and set up a dedicated savings account if you haven’t already.
Give yourself time
Whatever your New Year goals, give yourself some time to make them a reality. More time than you may have planned on, actually. While most people cling to the widespread belief that new habits can be formed in 21 days, research suggests we need a longer timetable. One study found it took participants an average of 66 days to do something different — and stick with it.
The good news? If you work with the latter timeframe, worst case is that your new gym membership won’t become obsolete until around 7 March 2025.
Don’t wait
Rather than “sin all the month of December, with a serious determination of beginning the new year with new resolutions and new behaviour”, why not start now?
Perhaps it’s better to find out in December that a 10km run is a bit optimistic for your current fitness level, so you can dial it back and start with 5km runs in January. And to make sticking to your New Year’s resolution even easier, with a few weeks of occasional warm-up jogs, you won’t be starting from scratch on 1 January. You’ll already have gotten over the worst of the starting period. You might even be beginning to see results.
Stay Focused in 2025
In some ways, the mark of a new year is arbitrary. What is the practical difference of starting a goal on January 1st versus August 12th? After all, holidays are a man-made construct.
But something has to wake us up and remind us of the importance of our goals and the shortness of life. If that reminder comes with an arbitrary day and fireworks, we’ll take it.
Because what is not arbitrary is your life and how you spend it. Anything that reminds us of that is a good thing.
Life is far too short to keep saying “next year.” The time to change is now and I am here to help you:
“Be intentional about what you choose to do and intentional about actually doing it”.
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*The 7Ps – To be intentional about what you choose to do and intentional about actually doing it”
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*Quote of the Month*
“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”
– C.S. Lewis –
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*Kicking Out The Bucket List*
For further information or to order the book directly (signed copies available)
It is also available from Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble and other leading book retailers.
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Thank you for journeying with me this year. For now, all that’s left is for me to wish you a blessed Christmas and happy holidays.
I look forward to connecting with you again in 2025.
Glenda
Objectivity is a Myth