Happy New Year

New Years Resolutions

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New Years  Facts and Figures

Are you among the millions who made one or more New Years resolutions this year?  If so, how successful do you think you'll be in actually achieving your goal?

As the New Year approaches we tend to examine the past and look ahead to the future, often deciding that we need to do something differently - lose weight, exercise more, find a way to be less stressed, or quit some bad habits that we've acquired.  So we make a silent vow at the stroke of midnight on New Years Eve to change ourselves for the better during the coming year.  But in most cases, we find our well-intentioned resolutions have been abandoned by the end of January.   Why do we go to the trouble every year to commit to change, only to find ourselves settled back into our familiar ways within a few weeks?  How did this all get started?  And how can you make a resolution that really sticks?  Read on for some suggestions and thoughts.

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Who Started the New Years Resolutions Tradition?

You may be wondering: "Who started this resolution idea anyway?"  Well, the roots of the New Years celebration (and the New Years Resolution) can be traced back to the Babylonians, over four thousand years ago.  But back then the celebration took place in March, to coincide with the spring planting season.

A bit of Babylonian trivia:  the ancients believed that what a person does on the first day of the New Year will impact them for the next twelve months.  Now there's some food for thought.  What will you be doing on January 1?

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Why Is The Abandon Rate So High?

Most people who make and break New Years resolutions feel guilty.  This is counter-productive, since the whole idea of a resolution is to make positive change.  So why do so many of us abandon our commitment?

If you think about the definition of a New Years Resolution, it's easy to see why so many get left in the dust so quickly.  A resolution is just a goal - without a plan for achieving it.  Because we tend to reflect on the past and look ahead to the future we can usually come up with a few ideas for how to improve our lives.  But most of us, although clear about what we want to change, neglect to develop a step-by-step plan.

Sounds like a lot of work to do on New Years Eve, when you're supposed to be celebrating and having fun, doesn't it?  Most New Years resolutions seem to go the way of the diet, no more smoking, start an exercise program and even go to Church a little more often.  All changes to your life are hard to achieve and you need to work on them a lot more than you orginally thought.  This year give your resolutions a little more thought and work a little harder to achieve them.  With the right frame of mind most everyone can succeed.

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How To Keep Your New Years Resolutions

If you'd really like to keep your New Years resolutions there are some things you can do to increase your chances of success:

   Be Specific - By making your resolution specific you will increase your chances of achieving it.  Instead of vowing to "start exercising" you might decide to find a local gym and join by the end of January and to begin with regular workouts starting February.  Being specific requires more thought but it's a sure-fire way to increase your success rate.

   Be Realistic - At midnight on New Years Eve you may be feeling a false sense of confidence (depending on how much celebrating you've done up to that point).  While you may be tempted to take on the world, remember that the more realistic your resolution, the more likely you are to keep it. Be realistic about the time, energy, and resources you have available and are willing to commit to keeping your resolution before making it.

   Develop A Plan - It has been said that many resolutions fail because they are simply goals - without a plan.  Be sure to develop a plan for how you will keep your resolution, breaking it down into small steps you'll need to take in order to achieve the overall goal.  Once you have a plan, mark down the activities on your calendar or day-timer, so you'll be reminded of them on a regular basis.

If you are determined to keep your resolutions, taking the steps listed here will certainly get you started on your way.  And, as an added bonus, these tips are also helpful when you have goals you'd like to achieve at other times of the year!

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Facts & Figures

The History of New Year's Resolutions

The tradition of the New Year's Resolutions goes all the way back to 153 B.C. Janus, a mythical king of early Rome was placed at the head of the calendar.

The New Year has not always begun on January 1, and it doesn't begin on that date everywhere today.  It begins on that date only for cultures that use a 365-day solar calendar.  January 1 became the beginning of the New Year in 46 B.C., when Julius Caesar developed a calendar that would more accurately reflect the seasons than previous calendars had.

The Romans named the first month of the year after Janus, the god of beginnings and the guardian of doors and entrances.  He was always depicted with two faces, one on the front of his head and one on the back.  Thus he could look backward and forward at the same time.  At midnight on December 31, the Romans imagined Janus looking back at the old year and forward to the new.  The Romans began a tradition of exchanging gifts on New Year's Eve by giving one another branches from sacred trees for good fortune.  Later, nuts or coins imprinted with the god Janus became more common New Year's gifts.

In the Middle Ages, Christians changed New Year's Day to December 25, the birth of Jesus.  Then they changed it to March 25, a holiday called the Annunciation.  In the sixteenth century, Pope Gregory XIII revised the Julian calendar, and the celebration of the New Year was returned to January 1.

The Julian and Gregorian calendars are solar calendars.  Some cultures have lunar calendars, however.  A year in a lunar calendar is less than 365 days because the months are based on the phases of the moon.  The Chinese use a lunar calendar.  Their new year begins at the time of the first full moon (over the Far East) after the sun enters Aquarius- sometime between January 19 and February 21.

Although the date for New Year's Day is not the same in every culture, it is always a time for celebration and for customs to ensure good luck in the coming year.

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Ancient New Years

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, Babylonians celebrated the beginning of a new year on what is now March 23, although they themselves had no written calendar.

Late March actually is a logical choice for the beginning of a new year.  It is the time of year that spring begins and new crops are planted.  January 1, on the other hand, has no astronomical nor agricultural significance. It is purely arbitrary.

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.

The Romans continued to observe the New Year on March 25, but their calendar was continually tampered with by various emperors so that the calendar soon became out of synchronization with the sun.  In order to set the calendar right, the Roman senate, in 153 BC, declared January 1 to be the beginning of the New Year.  But tampering continued until Julius Caesar, in 46 BC, established what has come to be known as the Julian Calendar.  It again established January 1 as the New Year.  But in order to synchronize the calendar with the sun, Caesar had to let the previous year drag on for 445 days.

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Chinese New Year

Except for a very few number of people who can keep track of when the Chinese New Year should be, the majority of the Chinese today have to rely on a typical Chinese calendar to tell it.  Therefore, you cannot talk of the Chinese New Year without mentioning the Chinese calendar.

A Chinese calendar consists of both the Gregorian and lunar-solar systems, with the latter dividing a year into twelve months, each of which is in turn equally divided into thirty-nine and a half days.  The well-coordinated dual system calendar reflects the Chinese ingenuity.

There is also a system that marks the years in a twelve-year cycle, naming each of them after an animal such as Rat, Ox, Tiger, Hare, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Boar.  People born in a particular year are believed to share some of the personalities of that particular animal.

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Top 10 Most Common New Year Resolutions

1. 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. Exercise more
8. Be more patient at work/with others
9. Eat better
10. Become a better person

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