We’ve all done it.  Approaching the end of December, rocking gently back and forward on the sofa while we watch the Alka Seltzer dissolve, we vow to make a change: get more exercise, knock our various bad habits on the head, and generally live a better, fitter and more productive life – the classic New Year’s Resolutions. But where did this tradition come from?

New Year’s Resolutions originated in Puritan times, when it was customary for people to resist the revelry of celebrations and instead contemplate the previous year and consider how they could better themselves for the following one. Their resolutions were generally centred on how to be more charitable to their neighbours and avoid habitual sins.

Times have changed.  Nowadays most New Year’s Resolutions focus on the betterment of the self. A recent survey revealed that the number one new year’s resolution in the UK is (rather unsurprisingly following the Christmas binge) to lose weight, with saving money and reducing spending coming in a close second.

The rest of the top ten were a random scattering including stopping smoking, spending less time at work, getting fit, keeping in contact with friends and family or picking up a new language or hobby.  However, as a sign of the time, social networking made its way into the top resolutions with many wanting to sign up, maintain or reduce time spent on social networking sites.

But faced with increasingly busy lifestyles, a growing number of people are opting to avoid the New Year’s Resolutions altogether, predominantly as they feel that they are destined to fail from the start. So how are we meant to change bad habits then, I hear you ask? Well, we tend to bite off more than we can chew and success is really all about moderation and the setting of achievable targets: instead of saying ‘I will lose weight this year’, try saying ‘I will lose 2lbs a month this year’; instead of saying ‘I will go running this year’, say that you will run twice a week and set regular days and times, like Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6pm.

It also turns out that your route to success is different depending on your gender. If you’re a man it has been found that target setting is more productive, as well as constant reminders of the target you are trying to achieve. If you’re a woman, you’re more likely to succeed if you tell your friends and family, and if you are constantly supported. So get out those pictures of six packs bods, and get talking! You never know, you might just get somewhere…

For all those brave enough to embark on New Year’s Resolutions – we wish you the best of luck!