The Campaign Company specialises in social research and behaviour change. This is your guide to what we’ve been reading. Here’s what’s coming up this week:
Behaviour change ~ New Year’s resolutions polling, and how to keep yours
Hello, Happy New Year and welcome to the TCC Weekly – the Friday bulletin for people who know their Karen’s Diner from their Dick’s Last Resort.
Today we look at polling on New Year’s resolutions. Are more people making them this year, and if so why? And if you’re among those who have one then how can you keep yours?
And of course, we’ve been reading the internet this Christmas so you don’t have to. Charlie’s Attic includes a bumper set of links. And we can also bring you an additional treat, in the form of Charlie’s Almanac, a comprehensive and eclectic list of everything you could possibly need to know for the coming year.
It’s that time of year when people turn over a new leaf and go, overnight, from gorging themselves to starving themselves. We thought we’d look today at annual polling by YouGov, about New Year’s resolutions for 2023. The below chart, taken from their analysis, compares the numbers saying they will make a resolution this year compared to those who say they made a resolution last year. The numbers appear to have jumped significantly, with half again as many making a resolution for 2023 – 21% compared to 14%. The shift is particularly high among young people – 41% compared to 27%.
Of course, a big factor here is recollection. Many may not recall that they make a New Year’s resolution last year, especially if they broke it. Handily enough, however, YouGov in fact did exactly the same polling exercise 12 months before, and it did – when we dug into the numbers – show a genuine difference. Just 16% made a resolution for 2022, and just 32% of 18-24 year-olds.
We wonder whether national and global uncertainties, be it the cost-of-living crisis or events in Ukraine, have made people keener to address the things within their control this year. Particularly young people, who will often be feeling the pinch hardest. But, just as easily, perhaps we Brits ate a bit more cake in 2022 than in 2021 and are extra keen to burn it off. We’ll leave it to you to discuss!
At any rate, if you’re among the 21% making a resolution for 2023, then below are some of the best tips we’ve come across this time round, for sticking to your new goals.
This piece includes a really detailed list of 10 tips to guarantee success. It’s extremely detailed and has just about everything covered.
This article talks about how you can quickly turn a behaviour into a habit. This is the most sure-fire way to make sure you stick to your pledges.
This long read is more personal and story-based. It explores the question of why so many resolutions fail.
And this one cuts to the chase, setting out 9 tactics to help you stop procrastinating.
Lastly, the BBC boil it down to a bitesize form for you, with 6 simple suggestions.
Whatever you’re looking to change in 2023, we wish you the very best with it!
And finally this week, in addition to Charlie’s Almanac, there’s the customary Charlie’s Attic, where good intentions and bad habits vie for primacy:
