The New Year Resolution : A Psychological Impossibility?

Robert Harris

Writer

Losing weight and getting in shape; giving up smoking; drinking less. Ad infinitum. It’s hard to think of resolutions sworn on January 1st more grossly clichéd, overused and ultimately futile than these aforementioned offerings. Nevertheless, it has seemingly become a tradition to make such declarations, and, whether they are legitimate intentions or just a mere method of pacifying the conscience, year upon year, they mostly fail in a guilt-ridden concoction of Chinese takeaways, Benson and Hedges, and cheap Tesco lager.

Benjamin Franklin once wrote “How few there are who have courage enough to own their faults, or resolution enough to mend them,” and indeed, many have probably rhetorically wondered: how many have ever successfully seen out a New Year’s resolution to its conclusion? How many amongst us have been dedicated on January 1st, yet find ourselves unmotivated and unchanged come February? I certainly empathise with this scenario, and I’m certain a quick Google of ‘new years resolution statistics’ or the like will show that I am not alone. Indeed, I quickly stumbled upon a 2007 survey by University of Hertfordshire psychologist Richard Wiseman, which found that, from a pool of 3000 people, only a mere 22% successfully saw out their resolutions to a climax. So, are we all just grossly lazy, weak-minded people with no sense of self-control?