The Art of Resolution

It's now February and I have just decided my 2009 New Year's resolution. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't planning on having one this year, since you all know that I am completely perfect, have no issues, and wear a halo. Okay maybe I wear my halo loosely. No really, as I was thinking about why people make New Year's resolutions, the thought crossed my mind "what is the history behind New Year's resolutions?" Did you know that there are religious parallels to the tradition of making New Year's resolutions? In the Judaism's New Year (Rosh Hashanah) until the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), it is said to be a time of reflection and forgiveness. So what does this pertain to? It is to be a period of reflecting upon all of one's wrongdoings over the entire year, a time in seeking as well as offering forgiveness to others for their wrongdoings. Although I am obviously not Jewish (but would all-to-much love the heritage), I can see the resemblance in the concept or tradition, although definitely a difference in creed.

Here are some interesting statistics from a resolution study from the 2008 year.

*52% were confident of success with their goals

*12% actually achieved their goals

*Men are said to achieve their goal 22% more when they engaged in goal setting, when small

measurable goals were used.

*Women succeeded 10% more when they publicized their goals, when being supported by a

friend.

I thought this was interesting when considering men and women and their success rates. I can only conclude that men like to see short-term goals accomplished, which will lead to more long-term goals. In a way this makes sense, take one step at a time and not dive into a pool of change. With women I can only think that we are held more accountable when making our goals publicized because we don't want to have to step back onto what we have already publicly made known. At the same time I believe that women know all too well how our girlfriends can hold us accountable.

Here are the 10 most common New Years Resolutions:

1. Loose Weight

2. Stick to a Budget

3. Debt Reduction

4. Enjoy More Quality Time With Friends and Family

5. Find My Soul Mate

6. Quit Smoking

7. Find a Better Job

8. Learn Something New

9. Volunteer and Help Others

10. Get Organized

So why is it that there is only a 12% of actual New Year's goal success? Could it be the New Year's goals in themselves? Maybe they're too broad or maybe there are just too many to stay focused on complete success. Its not that these specific goals are bad resolutions, in fact they seem pretty decent in helping sustain your physical, mental, personal, and financial lifestyles. I don’t know about you, but number five hits home for me. I don’t believe that I would make this my resolution though; I believe a higher-force other than myself has to achieve this one. Here's a thought, maybe you could add up all of these New Year's resolutions into one name? I guarantee the success rate would sky-rocket with this name, JESUS! So, as the New Years is supposed to celebrate a time of passage for most people, how about we not focus too much on the all too basic ten step rules of self-improvement? I believe that there is only one tool out there in existence that can be used for remaking ourselves. His name is Jesus.