New Year’s Resolutions: Some Visuals For Inspiration, Motivation, And Data

Source: Wikipedia

With the New Year arriving in less than 48 hours, people all over the world are thinking about making resolutions for the coming year.

According to Wikipedia, a New Year’s resolution is a secular tradition, most common in the West, when a person makes a promise to change something starting on the first of the year. It does have historical connections, and it is not uncommon to reflect on self-improvement.

To that end, we gathered some information about the topic to see what types of ideas we could use with our students during the first, short week of school. From Buzzfeed, we came across the post "14 Quotes To Inspire Your New Year’s Resolutions For 2014." This clever mix of historical figures garbed in festive holiday regalia would definitely make for a good, philosophical discussion in any history or English class.

Source: BuzzFeed

One thing that was apparent from our research was that statistically, most people don’t stick to the resolutions they make. According to the Marist Poll for 2014, the data on Americans resolving to make a change for the New Year is up slightly from the previous year by 4%. Its graph tracking the changes since 1995 of those likely and unlikely to make a New Year’s resolution would be interesting for a math lesson.

Source: Marist Poll

The Marist Poll also provides comparative statistics for prior years and a PDF of the complete tables and data sets collected for its 2014 New Year's Resolution inquiry.

Of course, there are plenty of infographics on the topic. This detail from one published by Kapitall Wire is a fitting visualization supporting many of the top ten resolutions most people make.

Source: Kapitall Wire

Lastly, for those who may have trouble sticking to their New Year's resolutions, there's always someone who wants to help. For some fun, check out this promotional motion graphic called "New Year's Resolution Ideas" by Gary Ryan Blair. It is a plug for his business, but it does give a good overview about trying to keep the goals many of us set for ourselves for the New Year. It also could be incorporated into a media literacy lesson on persuasive techniques to sell a product.

Enjoy and have a Happy New Year!