Blue Branch On Why New Year's Resolutions Fail

The tradition of New Year’s resolutions dates all the way back to 153 B.C. and although the tradition is still popular, according to an article by Forbes only 8% of people actually achieve their New Year’s resolutions. Year after year people set themselves up for failure.  A google search generates over 24 million results for New Year’s resolutions.

An article by Ben Lee on Digital Spy revealed the top 10 UK New Year’s resolutions in 2013;

1. Read more books


2. Save more money


3. Lose weight


4. Redecorate


5. Take better photos


6. Go travelling


7. Sell old unwanted stuff on eBay


8. Buy a tablet


9. Organise photos


10. Do something for charity

So why do most resolutions fail?

1/ Goals are too big

92% of people fail to achieve their resolutions because their goals are too big. Setting yourself a goal that is considerably unattainable is one sure-fire way to guarantee you won’t follow through, goals need to be tangible, as we explained in our previous blog; How to set S.M.A.R.T goals:

2/ Making too many at one time

Having too many things to concentrate on at once means your focus is split.  To give yourself the best chance of achieving a goal it’s important to focus on one thing at a time, allowing you to put all of your concentration and effort into that.

3/ Bad Timing

For many people January can be a hard month, trying to get back on their feet after over spending at Christmas and coming off the back of the holidays, it’s back to the harsh realities of the world.  Most importantly though, why wait for one particular day to make a decision, when there are 364 other equally great decision-making days available to you. If someone is waiting till New Year to set themselves a goal then it’s probably not one they are overly concerned about fulfilling.

Blue Branch is an events-based marketing company based in the Haymarket area of Edinburgh.   We specialise in promotional events marketing campaigns that have been specifically designed to raise brand awareness and increase market share for our clients. Since we opened in September we have gone from strength to strength and we’re looking forward to the year ahead.