All Is Quiet...

With the ushering in of a new year, it is a given that gym memberships will skyrocket, packs of cigarettes will be tossed away and processed foods will be evicted from their corner of the pantry—at least for the first six weeks of 2018, which is when 80 percent of people are said to abandon their resolutions, according to U.S. News.

This begs the question: Why are we so bad at keeping our resolutions? Business Insider turned to Kaitlin Woolley, from Cornell University, and Ayelet Fishbach, from the University of Chicago, for an explanation. In their 2016 study titled “Immediate Rewards Predict Adherence to Long-Term Goals,” published in the scientific journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, the authors observed a theme in resolutions. They found that 55 percent of resolutions were health-related (think exercising more and eating healthier), and 20 percent were about reducing debt. Woolley and Fishbach also discovered that “both enjoyment and importance are significant factors in whether [people] stick to their resolutions.” In simpler terms, if participants were rewarded with immediate results, they’d be more likely to succeed beyond that six-week period.

I’m not gonna lie … I don’t make resolutions. It’s just not my thing. But it is for many Americans, and setting resolutions can be a great way to affect positive change. On the business side, maybe that industry event you vow to attend will give you the knowledge to close that sale you’ve been working on, or connect you with the perfect partner (ahem, Distributor Connect). Maybe blocking off certain hours of the day for email will allow you to work smarter and get stuff done. And, that’s great! But please don’t get too caught up in the whole “out with the old, in with the new,” because you are enough. There’s so much pressure to get it right, whether at home or in the office, and we are all doing the best we can. I see you, friends. Just thought you should know.

Happy New Year!