A very happy New Year to all our readers and please pass it on from all of us here to those you know who don’t read iNews Cayman.

Do you make New Year’s resolutions?

I don’t and I cannot remember the last time I ever made any. If I did I am positive I never kept them.

In a study executed by the University of Scranton it was revealed 75% of resolutions will be continued through the entire first week of January, but only 46% make it past six months.

I am surprised it is that high.

A 2007 study by Richard Wiseman from the University of Bristol involving 3,000 people showed that 88% of those who set New Year resolutions fail.

That is more believable.

The Study also found out 39% of people in their twenties will achieve their resolution each year while only 14% of people over 50 years of age will achieve theirs.

So the older we get the less chance we have of keeping them.

I suppose we are too set now in our ways.

So where did this New Year’s resolutions stuff actually start?

You can blame it on religion.

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

In the Medieval era, the knights took the “peacock vow” at the end of the Christmas season each year to re-affirm their commitment to chivalry.

However, it is not a bad thing to make and try to keep New Year’s resolutions.

A New Year’s resolution is a decision to do or not do something in order to accomplish a personal goal or break a habit. It comes at a time when people look back at the past year and make an effort to improve themselves as the new year begins. Adults often make New Year’s resolutions to lose weight or exercise more.

According to Wikipedia:

“At the end of the Great Depression, about a quarter of American adults formed New Year’s resolutions. At the start of the 21st century, about 40% did. In fact, according to the American Medical Association [(AMA)], approximately 40% to 50% of Americans participate in the New Year’s resolution tradition from the 1995 Epcot and 1985 Gallop Polls. It should also be noted that the 46% of those who made common resolutions (e.g. weight loss, exercise programs, quitting smoking) were over ten times as likely to succeed, compared to only 4% who chose not to make resolutions.

“The most common reason for participants failing their New Years’ Resolutions was setting themselves unrealistic goals (35%), while 33% didn’t keep track of their progress and a further 23% forgot about it. About one in 10 respondents claimed they made too many resolutions.”

I would be interested if you have made a New Year’s resolution so please share it with me. Of course I will have to publish it but I can omit your name.

If you don’t keep your resolution blame it on ……

Donald Trump?

That’s if you can actually make it to Friday 20^th January – Trump’s inauguration.