New Year's Resolutions-Why we make the same ones every year

While this probably isn't the type of hub that the person who requested it wanted, I'm not the type of person who makes new years resolutions, Not to mention, being Wiccan with a strong leaning toward Celtic beliefs I celebrate the New Year back in November so if I were going to have succeeded or failed at my resolutions I would have done so already.

That being said: have you ever noticed that you, being the general public, make the same resolutions over and over again, every.single. year? Look at Valerie Bertinelli, in her latest commercial for the weight loss company she is spokesperson for, she says outright that this will be the first year that she won't wake up on new years day worrying about her weight. Her weight has been bouncing up and down for as long as I can remember, and I watched the facts of life when I came home from grade-school.

How many smokers do you know who say every new years day "this is the year I'm going to quit smoking" or alcoholics that say "this year I'll quit drinking" or university students that say "I swear this semester I'll get better grades"? Nothing changes does it? December 31st rolls around, and the university student is still upset about their grades, and if they haven't died, or been diagnosed with a terminal illness and decided that "well I'm dying anyway, why bother" the alcoholic is still drinking and the smoker is still smoking.

The key to succeeding in *any* goal is believing in yourself, it is believing you can do it. Common belief used to be that all you needed was motivation. This theory was proven incorrect by Robert White back in 1959. And is backed up by Albert Bandura's theory of Perceived Self Efficacy (1997) which is a combination of our motivation and our ability to succeed.

While that last paragraph probably seems irrelevant, there is a point to it: If all it took was motivation then we'd all be millionaires, and we'd all be healthy, with perfect figures. (Barring the obvious genetic stuff) Therefore, we must not only be motivated to lose 100lbs, we must also believe that we are capable of losing 100lbs.

If you intend to make a new years resolution, especially if you have a history of not being successful with your resolutions start with the following: start by resolving to believe in yourself.