New Year’s Day. Fireworks, oliebollen and conviviality characterize this day. Ringing in the new year. But what do you want to improve about yourself? This article contains the most popular ‘good intentions’ of 2012 and some tips to keep them going, so that you also have a good intention for 2013.
Origin
New Year was celebrated early on many different dates, such as Easter, Christmas Day and ‘normal’ on January 1. The French King Charles IX declared in 1563 that New Year should from now on be celebrated on January 1 and after the creation of the Gregorian calendar as we know it today, more and more countries followed this example. It used to be a Christian holiday commemorating the circumcision of Jesus 8 days later. Now it is no longer just a Christian holiday, but the New Year is celebrated.
To use
On December 31, large groups of friends and family often gather to ring in the new year together. This is a great opportunity to speak to each other again after a long time while enjoying an oliebol and a glass of wine or champagne. Others celebrate it in a restaurant or go to other entertainment venues to celebrate New Year’s Eve there. It is therefore not necessarily a family matter. But whatever their method of celebration, everyone counts down just before 12 o’clock and when the time comes everyone congratulates each other ‘Happy New Year’ and starts shooting fireworks into the air until the wee hours.
But what is also common are the good intentions that people set. “I’m going to start dating this year.” or ,From now on I will take the bike instead of the car., are examples of such resolutions. But what are the most popular ones and, even more importantly, how do I ensure that I actually stick to these good intentions?
Most popular resolutions
What you can deduce from the sources below is that both men and women consider their health and appearance very important and are generally not satisfied with this. They would like to lose weight, exercise more or snack less. They also want better living conditions, such as standing up for themselves better and worrying less so that life becomes easier and more relaxed. Furthermore, the wallet is becoming increasingly important, which will probably also be reflected in the good intentions of 2013. Men and women do have the same interests, but here they are not that different.
Men
Below is a top 5 of 2012:
- To fall off
- Stress less
- Living more frugally
- More sports/exercise
- Stand up for myself better
Women
Below is a top 5 of 2012:
- To fall off
- Stress less
- Stand up for myself better
- Living more frugally
- Less sweets/snacking
Tips for keeping resolutions
New Year’s resolutions are always fun to make. Most also believe that they will stick with it. But the next day they no longer adhered to it. The main reason for giving up on your good intentions so quickly is that it has become more of a formality. You just come up with something nice that you really want, just not so much that it’s worth the sacrifice of something else. Or you don’t bother to put in enough effort. This is of course a condition for the success of your intention. You have to really believe in it and really want it. If you don’t care whether you succeed or not, you might as well not set a good intention because it will fail anyway.
But what can you do to make it easier to actually comply with these intentions? Below are some tips:
- Tell your loved ones what you are planning to do, what your goal is so that they can help you with it. For example, if your goal is to lose weight, they may advise you not to have that one pastry but to choose a healthier choice.
- Write down all the benefits/rewards so that when you are in a slump, it can motivate you to persevere and not weaken.
- Don’t set too many New Year’s resolutions at once. Focus on one at a time.
- Will things go wrong at some point? Then don’t fall into this pattern and make sure you pick up the right thread again.
- You may reward yourself once in a while, but just like tip 4, don’t fall into this pattern.
Good luck and happy holidays!