About 188.9 million adult Americans (74.02% of the population) say they’re determined to learn something new, make a lifestyle change or set a personal goal in an effort to better themselves in 2021, according to Finder.com. That’s a 15.17% increase from the last year.
But more than 7 in 10 people admit they have failed to uphold their New Year’s resolutions in the past, according to a recent WalletHub survey.
Keeping a resolution is easier in some cities than others, WalletHub found, and Atlanta is one of those cities.
To determine the best cities for keeping your resolutions, WalletHub compared 182 cities — including the 150 most populated U.S. cities, plus at least two of the most populated cities in each state — across five key dimensions: 1) health resolutions, 2) financial resolutions, 3) school and work resolutions, 4) bad-habit resolutions and 5) relationship resolutions.
Those key dimensions were evaluated using 57 relevant metrics, each graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for achieving your New Year’s goals.
According to WalletHub, the residents of Scottsdale, Arizona, are most likely to reach the goals they set on January 1. Atlanta is in the top 20, however, finishing No. 12, with an overall score of 62.61. That’s down one notch from last year’s ranking.
In each dimension, Atlanta ranked:
Health resolutions: 47
Financial resolutions: 48
School and work resolutions: 50
Bad-habit resolutions: 22
Relationship resolutions: 10
Augusta and Columbus also ranked in WalletHub’s analysis. Columbus was No. 158, with an overall score of 45.54; Augusta finished No. 166, with an overall score of 43.84.
What can you do to keep your resolutions?
“Think of intention not simply as something you want. Consider intention as a commitment of action for a ripple,” said Jerry Gale, professor of human development and family science at the University of Georgia’s College of Family and Consumer Sciences. “Now consider how that ripple moves across the water. What else might it influence? What are the constraints that may hinder success? Who might be the resources to help you succeed? The more support and commitment we have, the more the flow of our goals flow fully.”
Gale also told WalletHub: “Consider yourself from a holistic perspective. We have thoughts, we have emotions, we have a body, we have energy, and we have a spiritual aspect (our values, our sense of purpose and meaning, our sense of relationship to others, and more). Attending to any one aspect of our lives, be it financial, nutrition, relationships, etc. requires attending to a wholistic view of ourselves. Attending to your thoughts (finding ways to direct your thoughts to gratitude, appreciation, service for others), your emotions (findings ways to release stress and anxiety and fears, slow full cycles of breathing), attending to your body (your breathing cycle again, nutrition, exercise, etc.), attending to your energy (enough sleep, activity, moderate or zero alcohol and recreational drugs) and attending to your spiritual aspect (meditation, prayer, acts of service, consultation with people you trust, etc.).”
You can read the full analysis at WalletHub.com.
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