Resolution Realities
Why we make New Year’s resolutions.
I have always been a New Year’s resolution skeptic. Every year, for the first few weeks of January, we try — and often fail — to change our negative behaviors. We resolve to lose weight, be more grateful, eat better, improve relationships and so on. Why does a new year invoke thoughts of positive change? It seems that the desire to make changes after prominent events may be hard-wired into our personalities.
A paper by Professors Dai, Milkmen, and Riss at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School calls this behavior the “Fresh Start Effect.” Apparently temporal landmarks like New Year’s Day do help provide some significant impetus to improve our life. This detailed study found “a significant uptick in aspirational behaviors immediately following holidays.”
It is possible that the need for fresh starts is coded into our DNA. The study found that an increase in what this “aspirational behavior” follows new weeks, new months, and new years. In other words, we tend to be more motivated to pursue new goals after some date-based landmark. This effect is particularly pronounced after bigger life events like birthdays and, of course, the start of a new year.
While we may fail more than we succeed, many achieve positive results from making a resolution to improve, this is particularly true when sharing that commitment with others whose opinion we value. Therein may lie the reason for our tendency to make life altering pledges on dates that involve shared celebration.
Given that it appears to be an integral part of being human, making New Year’s resolutions can be good for you, so why not take advantage of this opportunity to some behavioral changes that are likely to make a big difference in your future life. Some of the greatest opportunities for future dramatic results involve money and investing.
Over the next week in this publication and on my radio show/podcast “Talking Real Money,” I will be sharing some resolutions that can change the way deal with money and could lead to dramatic changes in your future.
