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Soon after the initial rush of New Year’s celebrations fade and reality sets in, some people realise their desired ambitions are rather overwhelming and impossible to achieve.
It has become common that many people often develop   New Year resolutions out of excitement that prevails during the festive season and when it fades away so does the zeal to pursue the resolutions throughout the year.

As a result, pursuing the resolutions becomes a priority only during the first few months of a fresh year and the resolutions later disappear into thin air.
In many countries coming up with individual resolutions has become one of the common activities when people enter a new year. It is one of the most discussed issues during this time of the year and the media also takes a leading role in discussing the issue.
The most common question asked during this time of the year is: “What are your new year’s resolutions?”

It has also become a tradition that people develop resolutions in order to answer this question of the  moment but little consideration is often attached to whether people need the resolutions, why they need them, whether they understand why they need to develop  them and what they must consider when making their resolutions.
This excitement to decide on resolutions as the year comes to an end, and a new one begins makes it easy for people to be swept up in hopeful yearning and there is a danger of coming up with resolutions which are beyond reach.

Therefore particular consideration is needed when developing resolutions.
If resolutions are developed out of festive excitement and little consideration is attached when developing them then that defeats the purpose of making resolutions as they may not be maintained.
A New Year’s resolution can be defined as a commitment that an individual makes to one or more lasting personal goals. It can also mean the reforming of  a habit. Coming up with resolutions is a necessary initiative as the goals that individuals set help to map their   way forward.

The resolutions act as a plan which individuals follow throughout the year. They may include initiatives to adopt new and positive behaviours such as adopting healthy habits, reconciling with families, giving to the less privileged and improving one’s lifestyle.
Since these are usually made at the beginning of the year, these are popularly known as New Year resolutions. Ideally they should remain in effect until the goal is achieved. However, it has been noticed that most New Year resolutions are broken fairly shortly after they are made.

According to Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, resolutions that individuals develop have to be kept.
This means an individual has to follow through all or at least most of the resolutions throughout the year in order to record a success.
As the year 2012 begins many people will be preparing for the New Year with that specific goal in mind, which they call a resolution. Some individuals can develop resolutions after a realisation of their

shortcomings and it has to be upon every individual to uphold those resolutions.

This can be possible if the resolutions are properly planned and structured in order to serve a good purpose.  Careful consideration is needed when developing resolutions. Some factors to incorporate include setting goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bound. To sum it all up an individual has to consider whether pursuing the resolution is a wise and worthwhile decision or not.
It is also necessary that individuals build on previous resolutions which they failed to achieve. The setbacks that have been previously experienced should be a lesson for growth.

It also has to be noted that resolutions can be best achieved if they are shared with other people. These people can act as pillars of support and encouragement.
However, research has shown that it has become common that the majority of people who make resolutions fail to maintain them.
A study in 2007 by Richard Wisemen from the University of Bristol showed that 78 percent of those who set New Year resolutions fail. More recent results showed that about 12 percent of people who came up with resolutions actually achieved their goals.

In an article by an American, Stephen Shapiro in 2008, it was revealed that 45 percent of Americans usually set New Year resolutions, 17 percent infrequently set resolutions while 38 percent never set resolutions. Only eight percent of people are always successful in achieving their resolutions. Nineteen percent achieve their resolutions every other year.  Forty-nine percent have infrequent success. Twenty four percent never succeed and have failed on every resolution every year.

Research also reveals that among the resolutions that are made, for the first week: 75 percent of the resolutions are maintained, while 71 percent are maintained after two weeks. After one month 64 percent are maintained, while 46 percent are maintained after six months.
People who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t explicitly make resolutions.

This shows that there are few people who follow through their resolutions.
The tradition of making New Year resolutions can be traced back to the time of ancient Rome. The Romans are believed to be responsible for the tradition of making resolutions at the start of a new year. They believed that Janus, a mythical king of early Rome, had two faces which he used to look to the future and the past.

Romans believed that Janus could forgive transgressions and they would give gifts and make promises at the beginning of the new calendar year. Their belief was that Janus would see this and then bless their life for  the entire year.
Therefore the beginning of the year was believed to be the moment when decisions and plans with regards to the future were made. It has become a tradition that is practised throughout the world to make these plans when the year begins and to reflect on the previous year.