The Man Cave: Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions to “Be More Awesome Than Last Year”!

Posted on Jan 3 2015 - 9:39pm by Chris Meehan

Make your New Years resolution a reality! Did you know that our New Years resolutions to “be more awesome than last year” began with the ancient Babylonians? The uplifting promise to make each year better than the last goes back centuries, but comes down to TEN top goals today. How do you decide what your goals will be? The Man Cave did a little digging into what popular promises people make to themselves + the history behind it all to get everyone motivated.

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Most Popular goals

There are plenty of popular resolutions, and every goals starts with –
1. Improve physical well-being in some manner. Weight loss, eat healthier food, exercise more.

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After # 1; the sequence in popularity varies, but the most popular order seems to be

  • Get better organized
  • Improve finances, save more money, control debt better
  • Enjoy life more. Less stress.
  • Be more grateful.
  • Learn something new and exciting.
  • Help others more. Donate time and/or money.
  • Spend more time with family and friends
  • Settle down, get engaged/get married, have kids
  • Be more spiritualNYE-R2

History:

The ancient Babylonians made promises to their gods at the start of each year that they would return borrowed objects and pay their debts. This started the tradition of resolutions. The Romans began each year by making promises to the god Janus, for whom the month of January is named.

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In the Medieval era, the knights took the “peacock vow” at the end of the Christmas season each year  in which they re-affirmed their commitment to Chivalry. (Clearly Chivalry is NOT dead…) This tradition took hold over the years, and at the end of the Great Depression, about 25% of American adults formed New Year’s resolutions, at the start of the 21st century, about 40% did.

Tried and True Steps to Success:

The goal must be realistic and measurable (by specific actions taken and/or achieving steps to the end goal itself.) Ex: “By February 1, I will have lost 4 pounds, by March 1, lost four more, etc.”

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Create a timeline of what you need to do to achieve the goal, measuring your progress regularly. It helps to involve someone else in your plan for “moral support.” They may not be participating in it (or maybe they are) but at least someone is aware of your resolution and progress toward achieving it. That way you can check in with one another and bounce ideas back and forth.

Stick with 3P moving into 2015 for ways to motivate, plans to party through your resolutions, and goals to be more grateful + unique ways to show it. We’re moving and grooving into the New Year with big plans!

1 Comment so far. Feel free to join this conversation.

  1. Tania Atack January 18, 2015 at 5:25 am -

    I thought that new years resolutions were made to be broken??
    Love you guys. Tania