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Home > Weight Loss News > New Statistics: New Year's Resolution Usage Plummets from 88% to 45%
New Statistics: New Year's Resolution Usage Plummets from 88% to 45%
Americans experience a staggeringly low success rate of only 8% in achieving Resolutions, according to a new survey. "Count me out!" says an older-and-wiser population.
New York, NY (PRWEB) December 9, 2005 -- Like dinosaurs, reality TV shows and gas-guzzling SUVs, is the traditional New Year's Resolution rapidly becoming a thing of the past?
According to a new survey, the answer is a resounding "Yes."
In a a newly released survey of 1012 Americans, only 45% of Americans now say they write up New Years Resolutions down from 88% of Americans who did so in the past. The random telephone survey was conducted by Stephen Shapiro, president of Goalfree.com, with the assistance of Opinion Research Corp. of Princeton N.J.
The figures show a drop of almost 50 percent among Americans who use the annual goal-setting institution. Why the dramatic drop? "New Year's Resolutions just don't work," says Shapiro, a former corporate consultant at Accenture whose new book, "Goal Free Living: How to Have the Life You Want Now!" (Wiley $24.95) hits bookstore shelves nationwide in January.
"According to our study, only 8% of Americans say they always achieve their New Year's resolutions. The way it seems to work now, setting a New Year's Resolution is a recipe for defeat. It has come to be one of the nation's most masochistic traditions -- almost rivaling Halloween in that respect."
Says Shapiro: "At some point, people just decide to stop hurting themselves, and they call the whole thing off."
According to the study, New Year's resolution usage in America has been falling rapidly with age 57% of those aged 18-24 set New Years resolutions, compared with only 32% of those over age 54 who still set them. "As we get older, we get wiser -- and we identify things that don't work for us and stop using them," says Shapiro, who was featured on the November cover of "O," the Oprah Winfrey magazine.
Among those who plan on continuing the tradition, a third (33%) say they will set just a single New Year's goal for themselves, while 26% set 2-3 new goals for the year, and a hardy 6% set will set 4 or more goals for the New Year.
While Shapiro thinks the basic idea of the end-of-the year evaluation is a good one, he says that Americans as a whole have had little training in the process of setting realistic goals that will actually increase their happiness -- and that because of this, most New Years Resolutions set in 2006 will just end up causing increased levels of bitterness, defeat and unhappiness.
"Albert Einstein once defined common sense as 'the collection of prejudices acquired by age 18,'" says Shapiro. "In this sense, too many Americans are using too much 'common sense' when setting their annual goals. Why not -- this year, as an experiment -- set goals that are chosen to bring joy and success in the New Year? Instead of setting goals based on supposed 'faults' or 'flaws' that your parents or your spouse might want you to 'correct'-- why not set goals that can lead to your own, individual happiness, instead of just conforming to the often misguided, if well-meaning, expectations of others?"
According to the new study, of those who plan to set New Years Resolutions for 2006:
- 34% say they will set a New Year's Resolution related to their wallet
- 38% say they will set a New Year's Resolution related to their waistline
- 47% say they will set a New Year's Resolution related to their head i.e. a self-improvement type goal
- 31% say they will set a New Year's Resolution related to their heart -- i.e. a relationship or dating
goal.
"These are all good areas to focus on in the new year," agrees Shapiro. "But the danger in this type of goal-setting is that we become focused on where we are going rather than enjoying where we are right now. We sacrifice today in the hope that a better future will emerge -- only to discover that achievement rarely leads to true joy."
If you absolutely have to set New Year's Resolutions, Shapiro offers six tips -- available by contacting him at his new website, goalfree.com.
About Stephen Shapiro
Stephen M. Shapiro is a recognized expert and professional speaker on the topics of creativity and innovation. He is the founder of the 24/7 Innovation Group, a management education and research organization focused on innovation and breakthrough business thinking. A former consultant at Accenture, he founded that firm's Process Excellence Practice. His upcoming book, "Goal Free Living: How to Have the Life You Want Now!" (Wiley, $24.95), was featured on the cover of the November issue of O, the magazine edited by Oprah Winfrey.
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