Interesting New Year’s Resolution Statistics
December 11, 2008 by Stephen Shapiro
Early this week I received an email from a researcher at a major national TV talk show. They are doing a show on New Year’s Resolutions and saw my article on the topic.
They wanted to know if I had more details on the statistics referenced in the article.
I went back to the research we did with the help of Opinion Corporation of Princeton, NJ, and found the following interesting tid bits. The survey has a margin of error of 3%.
- 45% of Americans usually set New Year’s Resolutions; 17% infrequently set resolutions; 38% absolutely never set resolutions.
- Only 8% of people are always successful in achieving their resolutions. 19% achieve their resolutions every other year. 49% have infrequent success. 24% (one in four people) NEVER succeed and have failed on every resolution every year. That means that 3 out of 4 people almost never succeed.
- Of those who do set resolutions (these add to more than 100% because some people set multiple resolutions):
- 34% set resolutions related to money
- 38% set resolutions related to weight
- 47% set resolutions related to self-improvement or education
- 31% set resolutions related to relationships
- It appears that the younger you are, the more likely you are to achieve your resolutions
- 39% of those in their twenties achieve their resolutions every year or every other year
- Less than 15% of those over 50 achieve their resolutions every year or every other year
- The less happy you are, the more likely you are to set New Year’s Resolutions. This is especially true for those who set money-related resolutions: 41% are not happy, 34% are moderately happy, and 25% are happy.
- And here’s the punchline – There is no correlation between happiness and resolution setting/success. People who achieve their resolutions every year are NO happier than those who do not set resolutions or who are unsuccessful in achieving them.
What Does This Really Mean
Of course numbers only represent averages and do not reflect on YOUR personal situation. However, there are a few questions you may want to ponder as we inch closer towards December 31, 2008.
- What kind of New Year’s Resolutions do you typically set (money, health, self-improvement, or relationship-oriented)?
- Why do you set these particular resolutions?
- What do you hope to gain by achieving these resolutions?
- What will you do to be more successful (than the typical person)?
- Do you believe you will be happier on December 31, 2009 if you are successful in achieving your resolutions? If so, be aware that this is rarely the case – your attitude is more important than the results.
- And finally, what could you do to improve your level of happiness TODAY, rather than believing your happiness lies in the future?
New Year’s Eve is just around the corner. This year, instead of looking forward to what you want, spend your time reflecting on what you have. This is especially important during these troubling economic times. Listen to a brief MP3 I recorded on the topic of “Wanting What You Have.”
And if you do set a resolution, set a “theme-based” resolution rather than a “goal-based” resolution. This will increase your level of happiness AND participation in the coming year.
I am using 2009 as the year of doing “cool things.” I’m not going to worry about the economy. Instead, I am going to focus my energies on developing new products, working closely with fun and interesting clients, and spending my frequent flyer miles on exotic destinations.
What will be your theme for 2009?
P.S. If you want to give a great gift that will change the life of a loved one, be sure to check out Goal-Free Living
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!Comments
17 Responses to “Interesting New Year’s Resolution Statistics”
Feel free to leave a comment...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
Additional comments powered by BackType
Do you have a question about making your company more innovative, leaner and competitive?
Contact Stephen directly at email:
[...] This is pure baloney! Studies show that while most people who make resolutions stick with them for a short amount of time (under six months), only 8% are successful in completing their resolutions! [...]
[...] About New Year’s resolutions Dec. 31, 2008 | Posted by Joey at 3:27pm CST I searched the vast archives of this website to see if I had made any public New Year’s resolutions in the past. As it turns out I haven’t, which has to be a great disappointment to you all. I’ve also discovered that most people never keep their resolutions. [...]
[...] sengaja. Judulnya memancing rasa penasaran saya, Goal Free Living, hidup tanpa sasaran? Ternyata hanya 8% orang di Amerika yang sukses mencapai target resolusi yang telah dibuatnya. Mereka banyak yang [...]
[...] resolve to address these problems head on and with intense focus. The problem, of course, is that most New Year’s resolutions fail. So what does that teach us about ourselves? That we are failures? That because of Jesus and lunar [...]
[...] A recent study found that only 8% of Americans consistently achieve their New Years Resolutions. 68% of the respondents are successful some of the time, and 24% have failed on their resolutions every year. You can find more statistics on New Years Resolutions here. [...]
[...] “And here’s the punchline : There is no correlation between happiness and resolution setting/success. People who achieve their resolutions every year are NO happier than those who do not set resolutions or who are unsuccessful in achieving them.” Begitulah hasil temuan Stephen Shapiro disini. [...]
[...] A study on achieving New Years resolutions [...]
[...] Syndicated, Unsyndicated on December 28th, 2008 Recently, author Stephen Shapiro shared some surprising findings on New Year’s Resolutions:It appears that the younger you are, the more likely you are to achieve your resolutions.39% of [...]
[...] According to this website: Only 8% of people are always successful in achieving their resolutions. 19% achieve their resolutions every other year. 49% have infrequent success. 24% (one in four people) NEVER succeed and have failed on every resolution every year. That means that 3 out of 4 people almost never succeed!!! [...]
[...] and not to put any pressure on you, but, according to a 2008 research study done by Steve Shapiro and the Opinion Corporation of Princeton, NJ, 45 percent of Americans usually set New Year’s Resolutions and 17 percent infrequently set them. [...]
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by candagmkd: Interesting New Year’s Resolution Statistics | Business Innovation… http://bit.ly/S9ioT...
[...] goals they set out to complete each year? According to Stephen Shapiro, author of Goal-Free Living, one in four people who make New Year’s Resolutions never succeed. Perhaps this is because people are lacking the stamina they need to obtain their resolution, which [...]
[...] I was thinking about how every year people make goals or resolutions and how most of those people no doubt do not follow through with those goals. So I decided to share some new years resolution statistics that I Googled. [...]
[...] fact remains that the vast majority of goals and New Year’s resolutions fail, but before I tell you the fool-proof way to use them I want to explain the problems with [...]
[...] Nine out of ten of people admit to failing to achieve a previous New Year’s resolution. We all start January with high hopes for our [...]
Sure-Fire Way to Achieve Your New Year’s Resolution…
Article provided by Brand-Yourself.com Nine out of ten of people admit to failing to achieve a previous New Year’s resolution. We all start January with high hopes for our own resolutions. Want to know how you can be in……
[...] I found some interesting stats here. [...]