As January draws to a close, we thought we’d take a look at the time-honoured tradition of New Year’s resolutions. By this point, Blue Monday, the most depressing day of the year, has passed, the days are getting brighter, and the job hunt is well underway for anyone who put that on their resolutions list. Having said that, since only a quarter of us stick to our resolutions, and Quitter’s Day has already gone, perhaps we are a little late to the party… Anyhow, here are some fun facts:

One in five Brits have given up on their resolutions by Jan 5th
By May, half will have given up, with only about a quarter left by Christmas, according to YouGov. The NHS take an even grimmer view, estimating that only 10% succeed.

Not that it matters, we try again next year
21% of Brits intended to make New Year’s resolutions this year, the exact same number as the year before.

But we do learn from experience
The older we get, the less likely we are to make resolutions. The 18-24 bracket set out with good intentions, with 37% making resolutions. By 50+ we have learnt from our mistakes, and only 14% persist with the habit.

The Americans are much more keen
65% of Americans make New Year resolutions, according to Forbes, and most of these set financial goals. They’re even worse at following through, though – only 9.2% succeed.

The top ten list
In 2018, YouGov found that Brits resolved (and failed) to keep these resolutions:
1. Eat better
2. Exercise more
3. Spend less money
4. Self care (i.e. get more sleep)
5. Read more books
6. Learn a new skill
7. Get a new job
8. Make new friends
9. Get a new hobby
10. Focus more on appearance

Wait, what – no alcohol on the list?
Drinking less and stopping smoking appeared on the 2017 stats, and have been popular over the years, so perhaps those people were either successful, or else gave up trying. Probably the latter, if we are to be honest – stopping smoking has the highest dropout rate of the common resolutions.

Exercising resolution? You’ve probably given up already
Strava, the sports social network, identified the third Thursday of January as Quitter’s Day, the day you are most likely to give up on your good sport intentions. So, if you’re a regular gym user who’s frustrated with all the newcomers, fear not, they’re tailing off already. By mid September, over half will be gone.

Unless you signed up for a race
Of the Strava users who set a goal to sign for a race later in the year, 91% were still active 10 months later.

You’re odds on with these resolutions
Well, maybe not odds on, exactly, but you have a better chance of succeeding with these:
1. Get more/better sleep – Only 26.5% quit by February, making it the most achievable
2. Eat more healthily – 30% quit by February
3. Donate to charity – 33.3% quit by February