Claire's Random Thoughts

My resolutions:
1. Stop buying chocolate
The idea behind this one is simple. If I don’t buy it attempting and failing miserably to stock up, then I won’t eat it so much. This will make maintaining my weight significantly easier.

2. Truly study and focus when I plan to study, and have a set schedule for actuarial exam preparation
Otherwise, I just end up wasting time and not even having fun when I set aside time to study. If I plan to, then why not do so? This also leads into the next item on my list.

3. Pass exam P and exam FM by the end of the year
Getting an internship has been perpetually getting more competitive. Two exams complete definitely wouldn’t hurt at this point.

4. Improve my relationships with family/friends
Maybe I spend too much time online and not enough with real people, and that requires some change. I need some balance in the way I spend my extra time.

5. Have a small conversation with at least one stranger per day
This is also related to item 4 on my list, and it seems like a good way to expand the small list of people I know and talk to

6. Get my first real job/internship
Only essential for career advancement

7. Stop using bad weather as an excuse for not going to the gym
I should really go

8. Get under 118 lbs. again
I understand why people gain weight in college now, because it’s happened to me. This should be fairly easy if I can keep #1 and #7

Now for some New Year’s Resolutions Statistics:
That’s right, I’m going to be an actuary, so I can’t help but assign numbers to everything.

There is a strong negative correlation between happiness and the likelihood of setting resolutions. That is, the less happy you are, the more likely you are to set resolutions.
I wouldn’t consider myself as too happy relative to the general population, so I’m setting resolutions

Only 8% of people are always successful in achieving their resolutions. 19% achieve their resolutions every other year. 49% have infrequent success. 24% (one in four people) NEVER succeed and have failed on every resolution every year. That means that 3 out of 4 people almost never succeed.
So, why do we bother setting resolutions if we’re so likely to break them? Maybe this year will be different for me now that I have this on my blog. Yes, I will share about how these go, so that will be another incentive for me to keep my resolutions.

It appears that the younger you are, the more likely you are to achieve your resolutions
39% of those in their twenties achieve their resolutions every year or every other year
Less than 15% of those over 50 achieve their resolutions every year or every other year
Maybe that’s good news for me, because I am only 20 years old, so this works in my favor.

Now, let’s take a look at the top 10 most popular New Year’s Resolutions:
1. Spend more time with family and friends
Hmm…why does this seem to resemble one of mine?
2. Fit in Fitness
Yet again, related to one on my list
3. Tame the Bulge (aka lose weight)
Again?
4. Quit smoking
This probably would be on mine too if I smoked
5. Enjoy life more
Well, the things I put on mine are designed to help me enjoy my future life more
6. Quit drinking
If I were of age and an alcoholic, this would probably be on mine too. But, when you’re in college, you might as well take advantage of the things you can get away with
7. Get out of debt
I’m too careful financially at this point in life to have to worry about that, thankfully
8. Learn something new
Well, that’s sort of on my list. I wanted to study more, which means learning more material.
9. Help others
Maybe I’m just too selfish
10. Get organized
I need to do that too, or rather, stay organized.

Really, I didn’t look at the list before making my own. It’s interesting to see the resemblance.

Now, are you ready for the biggest, most astounding statistic?
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There is no correlation between happiness and resolution setting/success. In other words, achieving resolutions does not make the resolution setter any happier than he/she would be if he/she failed at keeping the resolution.
Considering that fact, why am I even setting resolutions that should not make me happy if I keep? I don’t really know, but part of me thinks that I’ll have an improved lifestyle whether I realize or not, if I can keep the resolutions. This sounds bleak, but maybe some people are just born happier than others are. So, something as insignificant as resolution setting/achieving tends to have a minuscule effect on happiness, because happiness is largely ingrained in our personalities and is extremely difficult to change. So, I’m setting my resolutions for the sake of proving myself to myself and lifestyle improvement whether achieving them will make me happy or not.