Setting New Year’s Resolutions To Examine Your Life and Ways To Make it Better

December 29, 2022 | Blog | Reading Time 3:00 Minutes

January 1st provides the ultimate reset button. 

Approximately 4,000 years later, it’s wildly popular. Since ancient Babylon, people have been making what today we know as New Year’s resolutions. Back then, the year began in mid-March during the first new moon of the spring. Celebrating the rebirth of Marduk, the sun god, the Babylonians made promises to ‘get on the right side of all gods’ to start the year off on the right foot.

Today, making New Year’s resolutions is a tradition that is most common in the Western World, practiced by people resolving to improve their behavior and/or accomplish specific goals at the beginning of a new calendar year.

The beginning of the new calendar year is a natural starting point. As The Washington Post stated, it’s the time when people look back at the past 12 months and identify ways to improve themselves for the future. Known as a temporol landmark, it’s a moment that stands out in time, known to impact motivation. It’s a fresh start. January 1st provides the ultimate reset button.  

Most New Year’s resolutions are admirable, focusing on self-improvement: eating better, exercising, losing weight, reading more books, exercising the brain, practicing mindfulness, spending more time with friends and loved ones, and quitting unhealthy behaviors and habits. When achieved, these all lead to an enhanced quality of life.

In the interest of full disclosure, there’s a bit of a caveat about the whole New Year’s resolution sensation. While millions of Americans set them, a very small percentage of people who actually keep them…reportedly 23% quit really quickly, and only a tiny percentage follow through to the finish. There’s even a day named after the phenomenon: Quitter’s Day, the second Friday of January. This is the most common day for people who have made resolutions to admit defeat.

That’s not to say, however, that setting New Year’s resolutions is not a good, positive, and beneficial activity, whether or not they are completely achieved. The exercise of recognizing possible change is highly recommended.

Setting New Year’s resolutions is the perfect way to examine your life and identify ways in which you might make it better. This is integral to your happiness.

Setting New Year’s resolutions is also a form of self-efficacy, which is a belief and self-confidence that you have the ability to handle a goal or challenge: a healthy characteristic!

Furthermore, setting New Year’s resolutions show that you are optimistic about the future. And optimism is contagious.

As is true with much in life, location, location, location has a significant impact on the ability to accomplish things, including making positive changes such as New Year’s resolutions in your life. And living at Shipley Living senior living community in Wilmington can play an enormous role. Eating healthy is simple and delicious with our wondering dining program. Exercising and pursuing or starting new hobbies is made easy through our robust activities calendar, offering fitness classes, games, musical entertainment, artistic programs and abundant opportunity to socialize with neighbors and friends.

In other words, to follow behaviors to which ardent New Year’s resolution-makers aspire, all you need to do is take advantage of all the amenities offered at Shipley Living. It does not get any better than that, and it guarantees that your New Year will be happy, healthy and engaging!!!