As 2021 draws to a close end, users of location-based social network Public weighed in their views on the age-old tradition of making New Year’s resolutions. A New Year’s resolution is a common practice in which a person resolves to continue good habits, change an undesired trait or behavior, accomplish a personal goal, or otherwise improve their life at the start of a year.
And with the spirit of a new year dawning upon us, Public’s recurring poll series ‘Public ki Awaaz’ sought to understand the intentions of Bharat users on making and keeping their resolutions. The poll garnered over 5.7 lakh responses.
New Year, New Me?
While bidding this year a farewell, a majority of Public’s users (54.5%) expressed their desire to make a New Year’s resolution in 2022. Respondents said they’re heading into the new year with a commitment to prioritise physical health as about ¼ users (25.4%) resolve to care more about their well-being by adopting healthy habits like exercising and sticking to a healthy diet. Other common commitments people intend to make are: making more time for family & relationships (18%), giving up bad habits (cigarettes, alcohol, lying) (17.5%), economic saving & investment (17%). 21% chose none of the mentioned as their resolution goals.
Interestingly, even though the overall optimism to set goals stands fairly high, at least 16.5% said they will not make a resolution at all.
Last year this time…
Every year, millions of people make New Year’s resolutions, hoping to spark positive change and 2021 was no different. When asked if they made a resolution for the departing year, about 53% users said they did. About 26% said they didn’t while 21% remained unsure.
For the most part, resolutions among Indians haven’t changed too much in the past year either. Recurring themes of physical upkeep and giving up bad habits topped the lists at 28.5% and 24% respectively. Followed closely by spending more time with family & friends (17.7%) and economic saving & investment (8%). As compared to the approaching year, a greater number of people (25.9%) said they did not make a resolution last year.
Resolution makers, resolution keepers
When asked if the respondents were able to keep their resolutions for 2021, the response seemed fairly positive as close to 43% said they could. However, despite the best of intentions, once the glow of a fresh year wears off, many people struggle to make good on their plans. This resonated with the response of about 30% users who said they could either not keep their resolutions or only a few goals were met. About 27% said they don’t remember.
And what makes up for a goal deterrent? At 27%, laziness is the topmost reason for not following through with a New Year’s resolution according to the users. Participants also cited avoidance (17%) and lack of consistency (16%) for the same. A majority of 41% remained unsure of the reason.
