Top 5 Most Popular New Years Eve Resolutions

40% to 50% of American's pledge New Years Eve Resolutions. Ever wonder what the Top 5 Resolutions are...

The History Of The New Years Resolution...

According to History.com...

"The ancient Babylonians are said to have been the first people to make New Year’s resolutions, some 4,000 years ago. They were also the first to hold recorded celebrations in honor of the new year—though for them the year began not in January but in mid-March, when the crops were planted. During a massive 12-day religious festival known as Akitu, the Babylonians crowned a new king or reaffirmed their loyalty to the reigning king. They also made promises to the gods to pay their debts and return any objects they had borrowed. These promises could be considered the forerunners of our New Year’s resolutions. If the Babylonians kept to their word, their (pagan) gods would bestow favor on them for the coming year. If not, they would fall out of the gods’ favor—a place no one wanted to be."

Speed forward some 4,000 years, and we now have a modern twist on the New Years Resolution. Today's society is more focused on personal improvement and growth. Wikipedia.com  reports that ...

"At the end of the Great Depression, about a quarter of American adults formed New Year's resolutions."

The report went on to say that...

"That 46% of those who endeavor to make common resolutions (e.g. weight loss, exercise programs, quitting smoking) were over 10-times more likely to have a rate of success as compared to only 4% who chose not to make resolutions. ^[8]"

 

Here Are The Top 5 New Years Resolutions for 2016 according to Pittsburghabout.com

1. Spend More Time With Family And Friends
2. Fit In Fitness
3. Tame The Bulge
4. Quit Smoking
5. Enjoy Life More

Considering that almost half of Americans make resolutions, here are the stats of the aftermath of the promises according to Statisticbrain.com...

• Percent of people who are successful in achieving their resolution is 8%
• Percent of people who have infrequent success  is 49%
• Percent of people who never succeed and fail on their resolution each year is 24%

And finally and interesting fact...

"People who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don't explicitly make resolutions."

I wish everyone a Happy New Year and good luck with your resolutions!