New Year's Resolutions - Resolve to be Different!

Do the New Year's resolutions you make really reflect your personal goals?  Or are you just making the same resolutions as every other 47-year-old college grad in your tax bracket?

A study by the Barna Group says that certain demographics are more likely to make certain resolutions. 

Here were the most common resolutions people made for 2011 and the types of people who tended to make them:

1. Lose Weight/Get Fit: 30% - Women, Baby Boomers, Earners over $75K
2. Pay Off Debt/Earn More: 15% - Divorced Adults, Gen X, Gen Y, Earners under $20K
3. Improve Relationships:  13% - College Grads, Earners over $75K
4. Overcome Addiction:  12% - Men, Singles, Gen Y
5. Meet Career Goals:  5% - Singles, Gen Y, Midwest Residents, Earners Under $20K
6. Enhance Spirituality:  5% - Divorced Adults
7. Futher Education:  4% - Singles, Gen Y, Northeast Residents

So are you making the same resolutions as others like you?  If you are, that's not necessarily a bad thing.  What's important is making resolutions you can stick to. 

The study also found that 61 percent of Americans have made New Year's resolutions in the past.  Of those, about one in four say they experienced significant, long-term change as a result.  But half saw no change at all.

To give yours staying power over the long haul, be specific, write them down and try to build in a way to measure progress - with weekly check-ins, time requirements, etc.  By February, you could be feeling results instead of regrets.

Source:  Amy Anderson, Success magazine, January 2012 issue