Fun Facts: New Year's Resolutions

Have you already made up your mind on what you wish to change, improve or give up? How long is your list so far? Don't worry, New Year's resolutions are extremely common and we all have a long list!

What are the most common resolutions? Let's have a look at what most of us promise to do every year:

• Health related - lose weight, give up smoking, exercise more, drink less
• Work related - find a better job, perform better in the current job, be on time!
• Family related - spend more time with wife, husband, children, parents; find a partner; have children

It is interesting to know where and when this custom started. Let us have a look at traditions around the world and their history. Apparently New Year's resolutions that we all make in January are dated all the way back to the Romans time. In fact, the name 'January' comes from the Roman god 'Janus', who's characterised by a peculiar trait: it has 2 faces; one of them looks back at the year just passed and the other one looks forward to the new year.

The Romans used to make promises to the god Janus to be good in the year to come. As Rome became Christianised the custom changed and promises soon took the shape of fasting and prayers. There are few more religious traditions linked to the new year but they all imply 'making a change'.

Do you feel now this sounds more familiar to nowadays? We have all made promises at the beginning of each year to change something. This might have not involved the use of a sacrifice, as they did in the old days, but it certainly had a significant meaning to us.

How many times though have you wondered why you couldn't accomplished what you had in mind? Let us check few interesting facts linked to our failures:

• Success rate for a goal are higher if the goal is set over a period of time - 'I will run 1 mile every week' rather than 'I will run a marathon this year!'
• Goals are more likely to be achieved if shared - 'John and I are giving up smoking' rather than 'I will give up smoking'
• Having someone supporting your resolution will help you succeed - 'Jane keeps count of all the the miles I've run this month'

Now that you know how to succeed, will you get people involved in your resolution? Leave us a comment and let us know how you did!