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Your New Year’s Resolutions

December 28, 2006 7pm-8pm (EST)

Tired of making the same New Year's Resolution? Got Questions on how to ensure success this year? Join us on our radio talk show for a question and answer session with Ann Bernard, LGS Coaching Agency President.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/hostpage.aspx?host_id=1846

Resolved: A Successful New Year

December 30, 2006 2pm-3pm (EST)

Before putting pen to paper this year, learn how to identify resolutions worth making and keeping. Join us on our radio talk show as we discuss 4 easy steps to follow.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/hostpage.aspx?show_id=7871

Throw out or Keep your Resolutions??

January 6, 2007 2pm-3pm (EST)

Now that you’ve made your resolutions; should you keep ‘em or throw ‘em out? Join us on our radio talk show as we discuss a series of questions to ask yourself so you find the answer.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/hostpage.aspx?show_id=7872

The Unveiling of New Year Resolutions

Now, that we’ve had a bit of a history lesson about New Year Resolutions it’s time to buckle down and really discuss what we know about them.

Top 10 Most Common New Year Resolutions are:

1. Exercise more/Lose weight

2. Stop smoking

3. Stick to a budget

4. Save or earn more money

5. Find a better job

6. Become more organized

7. Stop procrastinating

8. Be more patient at work/with others

9. Eat healthier

10. Become a better person

Looking at the top 10 most common New Year Resolutions it’s apparent that we, those of us who make resolutions, do so with a goal in mind. There is something we wish to be, accomplish, change or obtain. However, what most of us do, is arbitrarily set our resolutions based on our shortfalls or a desired outcome and end result in mind.

For example, my shortfall is, I spend too much money and can’t handle money so my resolution for this year is, to stick to a budget? Just some food for thought, but if you don’t know how to manage your budget or handle money, what does sticking to a budget mean to you?

So to no surprise, a few weeks (for some it’s just a few days and a selected few, it might be months) into the New Year, we renounce our resolutions and surrender ourselves to the way things are and have always been. Here are 10 reasons why:

Top 10 Most Common Reasons Why People Will Not Succeed:

1. Made too big of a resolution

2. Made the wrong resolution

3. Lacked a plan for success

4. Made a resolution for someone else

5. Lacked support

6. Lacked a genuine commitment

7. Lacked motivation

8. Lacked passion towards the resolution(s)

9. Insufficient resources

10. Had little to no accountability

Hmmm…does this mean that every year we have a tradition that technically sets up for failure? Or, is it our lack of knowledge, understanding, planning and beliefs in regards to our resolutions that sets us up for failure, not the resolutions?

Coach Ann Bernard

Origins of New Year's Resolutions

Funny thing about getting the New Year Resolution Program together, it occurred to me that I don’t even know where the tradition comes from…so I did what every person does nowadays, I googled it and discovered a few interesting things.

Did you know that…

The celebration of the New Year is the oldest of all holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago. In the years around 2000 BC, the Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon (actually the first visible cresent) after the Vernal Equinox (first day of spring). The beginning of spring is a logical time to start a new year. After all, it is the season of rebirth, of planting new crops, and of blossoming. January 1, on the other hand, has no astronomical nor agricultural significance. It is purely arbitrary.

Traditionally, it was thought that one could affect the luck they would have throughout the coming year by what they did or ate on the first day of the year. For that reason, it has become common for folks to celebrate the first few minutes of a brand new year in the company of family and friends. Parties often last into the middle of the night after the ringing in of a new year. It was once believed that the first visitor on New Year's Day would bring either good luck or bad luck the rest of the year. It was particularly lucky if that visitor happened to be a tall dark-haired man.

The Babylonian New Year celebration lasted for eleven days. Each day had its own particular mode of celebration, but it is safe to say that modern New Year's Eve festivities pale in comparison. For more information about modern day, New Year festivities: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year's_Day

The tradition of the New Year's resolutions also dates back to the early Babylonians. The early Babylonian's most popular resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment.

The early Christians believed the first day of the New Year should be spent reflecting on past mistakes and resolving to improve oneself in the new year

(Dictionary.com)Resolution is from the Latin resolutio, resolution- from resolvere meaning "to loosen or dissolve again," (re- + solvere) which was the original meaning of resolve. The meaning "to determine or decide upon a course of action, etc." was first used in English around 1523.

Now, that I think about it, what I read is what I actually already knew. There has always been something about entering “into” the New Year that has appealed to the people of the world, as a time for; considering new beginnings, doing things “right” from this new day forward and setting out towards self-improvements.

Coach Ann Bernard