Year after year, many of us reevaluate ourselves and make a conscious effort to construct grand New Year’s resolutions to improve our lives, only to find within months that our resolutions are placed on the back burner.

Research by the Barna Group shows by mid-January, 30 percent of the people who have made a New Year’s resolution already reduced their efforts. By the time June rolls around, many resolution enthusiasts have completely given up on their goal.

According to research corporation The Barna Group, nearly two-thirds of the population (61 percent) has made a New Year’s Resolution at some point in their life.

“Last year, my New Year’s resolution was to work out more,” said Kayla Borromeo, 21. “It didn’t turn out too bad, but it wasn’t everyday like I wanted to.”

Borromeo said her resolution failed last year because she didn’t have a gym membership and she lacked motivation. This year, however, she believes strongly she can accomplish both.

A study conducted in 2010 showed that 23 percent of Americans who made a resolution saw a long-term and significant change. The rest of the people found their resolution resulted in a minor change (29 percent) or simply no change at all (49 percent).

The most common resolutions among Americans relate to self-improvement goals, such as eating better, stopping smoking or losing weight.
According to the Barna Group, the top resolutions for last year were related to weight and health (30 percent); money and finances (15 percent); personal improvement (13 percent); addiction (12 percent); jobs and careers (4 percent); and education (4 percent).

“I made a New Year’s resolution to drink more water last year and due to lack of motivation and laziness, I only followed it for like a couple of months,” said Trent Abernathy, 20. “This year’s resolution is more mental than physical, so I should be able to keep track of it easier, make personal goals and self-motivate myself.”

Abernathy says he plans to simply focus on his resolution every day in hopes to successfully accomplish his goal.
Research according to Psychology Daily News has shown that there is a notable difference between men and women when it comes to the success rate of their New Year’s resolution.

This research shows men have almost a 22 percent better chance of achieving their goal when they keep their eye on the prize associated with the completion of their resolution.

Women, on the other hand, are 10 percent more successful in achieving their goals when they make their resolutions public and receive consistent feedback and support from friends and family.

New Year’s resolutions commonly result in failure because they are often made too broadly and are not equally balanced between being too challenging and too easy to reach.

Nevertheless, we find ourselves year after year caught up in our annual tradition of creating new resolutions, as well as betting who will be the first to break theirs.

Be sure to make your resolutions specific.

This way, resolutions become a lot easier to follow as the year progresses.

It is also very beneficial to have regular feedback to keep track of your progress or lack thereof.

Remember, you have 12 months to achieve your goals until the next year comes. Don’t be discouraged if you fall off track, just get up, dust yourself off and start again. You haven’t failed until you’ve completely given up.