It’s been said that a New Year’s resolution is bound to be broken. Maybe it’s just that people just set the bar too high for themselves.
My favorite acknowledgment of that is the one that goes, “my New Year’s resolution list usually starts with the desire to lose between ten and three thousand pounds.” It turns out that losing weight has perennially been No. 1 on most people’s New Year’s resolution lists, and that was true again this year.
How do we know? As part of our annual Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index (those results will be available in February, we absolutely promise!), we also asked 11,600 men and women about their 2016 New Year’s resolutions. Here’s their top-16:
- Lose weight
- Eat healthier
- Exercise more/more regularly
- Save more money
- Keep my resolutions more than a week
- Get organized/plan better
- Get out of debt/pay all my bills
- Be a better person/volunteer
- Spend less time on Facebook
- Spend more time with my family
- Quit smoking
- Learn something new/a new language
- Get a new job
- Drink less
- Find a new relationship
- Read more books
It turns out, not everyone makes a New Year’s resolution. According to this year’s survey only 58% plan to do so for 2016. And, alas, on average only 9% are successful at keeping them, to one degree or another. Maybe that number would be higher if we called them something else, like “New Year’s casual promises” or “things you think would be a good thing to do, but are under no legal obligation to fulfill.”
Or maybe it’s just like Mark Twain said. “Now is the accepted time to make your annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.”
We wish you success in your 2016 endeavors. Whatever they are.
Find out more about what makes customer loyalty happen and how Brand Keys metrics is able to predict future consumer behavior: brandkeys.com. Visit our YouTube channel to learn more about Brand Keys methodology, applications and case studies.
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