我们为什么要下定新年决心还有人们选择最多的新年决心是什么呢？
Why do we make New Year’s resolutions and what are the most popular choices?
“新的一年，新的我”-我们听过这一句得有一百万次了，不是吗？十二月是一个沉重的月份，充斥着含糖的肉馅饼、油腻的火鸡三明治，觥筹交错间，普罗赛克敲响了新的一年。每个人都想做些让自己感觉好一点的事情，否则我们怎么能忍受新年庆祝活动结束以后带给我们的卡路里负担呢。那解决方案是什么呢？-新年决心呀！我们对自己做出的承诺，不是完成某件事就是要改掉自己的坏习惯。这是一次回顾过去一年的时候，并发誓不要像去年那样犯同样的错误，如果我们能够坚持这些决心，这样肯定会“提高自己”的！
‘New year, new me’ - we’ve all heard this phrase a million times, right? December was a heavy month, filled with sugary mince-pies, greasy turkey sandwiches and multiple glasses of prosecco to ring in the New Year. Everybody has to do something to make themselves feel better, otherwise how could we possibly live with all the calorific guilt the end of New Year’s celebrations brought us. The solution? – a New Year’s resolution. A promise we make to ourselves to accomplish a certain thing or break a bad habit. It’s a chance for us to look back on the old year and vow to ourselves not to make the same mistakes as last year which will surely lead to ‘improving ourselves’, that’s if we’re able to keep these resolutions!
新年决心起源于古罗马人。1月（January）是以他们的神话中的神“Janus”命名的，他有两张脸---一张向前看，一张向后看。凭借他的面孔，他可以回顾过去，向前迈进新的一年。 一月成为罗马人做新年决心的象征性时刻，他们相信Janus会看到这一点并在新年祝福他们。随着时间的过去，许多基督教宗教团体留意到这个传统，他们承诺改掉不良行为，从悔意中解放，改变性格。自然而然的，这成为了社会各界的惯例。
New Year’s Resolutions originate from the ancient Romans. The month of January is named after their mythical god ‘Janus’who had two faces – one looking forward and one looking backward. With his faces he could look back on the past and forward to the future into the New Year. This became a symbolic time for Romans to make New Year’s resolutions, believing Janus would see this and bless them for the New Year. Overtime this tradition was observed by many Christian religious societies, who would make promises to give up bad behaviours and be free of any remorse for New Year, reforming their character. Naturally this became a common practice seen in all parts of society.
如今，新年决心已没有宗教意义，这更侧重于改变和改善自我。特别是在20世纪60和70年代，健身和健康热潮让人们对健康生活方式的态度有所转变，从而决心与健康更加相关。在英国，排名前三的决心分别是：多运动（38%）、减肥（33%）和吃得更健康（32%）。在美国，相似的是排名第一位的吃得更健康（37%），排在第二位的分别是多运动（37%）和存更多的钱（37%）。尽管新年决心是西方概念，但这一传统也在中国流行起来。与西方相似，健身和有个好的体型在中国是最常见的新年决心，但是中国人也重视其他的事情，比如花更多的时间与家人在一起。
Today, any religious meaning has been abandoned and now resolutions often focus on changing and bettering one’s healthy self. Particularly in the 1960’s and 70’s, a fitness and health boom resulted in changing attitudes towards a healthy lifestyle, which led to the formation of health-related resolutions. In the UK the top 3 resolutions are, exercise more (38%), lose weight(33%) and eat more healthy (32%). USA is similar with eating healthier (37%) being the top, and exercising more (37%) / saving more money (37%) being number two. Although the resolutions are typically a Western concept, the tradition has very much caught onto China too. China is similar to the West in that fitness and getting into shape is the most common resolution, but they also place importance on other things like spending more time with family.
对许多品牌而言，新年决心的流行是一个赚钱的机会。与健康和健身有关的决心对一些健康相关组织来说是个金矿，比如说健身房。年初的时候，健身房的会员购买量大幅增加。在英国，据估计约有三分之一的新会员都在1月和2月加入。其他的品牌也在新年决心中看到了价值---美国快餐连锁店“Chipotle”刚刚推出了一系列健康生活方式的墨西哥卷饼，希望能在那些刚刚下定决心吃的更健康的人身上获利。
The immense popularity of such New Year’s Resolutions can be seen as a money-making opportunity for many brands. Health and fitness resolutions can be a gold mine for health-related organisations, such as gyms. Gyms often see a huge increase in membership purchases at the beginning of the year, in the UK it’s estimated that around a third of new members for the gym join in January and February. Other brands see value in resolutions too – American fast-food chain ‘Chipotle’ has just launched a new collection of healthy lifestyle burrito bowls, looking to capitalise on those wishing to eat healthy this year.
不幸的是，人们经常违背自己的新年决心。以往的研究表明，一月份之后只有不到25%的人坚守承诺，仅有8%的人实现了目标。失败的原因有以下几点，一个是决心太广泛了，比如说“减肥”。人们的决心要制定的更具体一些（三个月之内瘦一石（相当于14磅或者6.350kg））或者把决心制定的范围更小一点，这样现实点的决心更容易完成。另一个原因就是实现决心的过程可能很无聊，我们人类集中注意力的时间很短，比起每天在跑步机上锻炼，吃巧克力棒长胖更有吸引力。不过和朋友一起锻炼或者加入一个你喜欢的运动俱乐部可以让决心实现的更有趣也更简单一点。很快的这一年就能结束啦，你也可以开始思考你新一年的决心了！
Unfortunately the reality of New Year’s resolutions is that they are often broken. Previous studies have shown that less than 25% of people stick to their promise after January and a mere 8% actually achieve their goal. There are several reasons why they fail, one being that resolutions are often too general, e.g. ‘lose weight’, people need to make it more specific (lose 1 stone within 3 months) setting smaller, realistic and achievable goals is much better. Another is that the process can be boring, we humans only have a short attention span and working out every day on the treadmill is far more unappealing than the belly fat we gain from a chocolate bar! Working out with a friend or joining a club with your favourite sport can make it much more interesting and far easier to stick to your resolutions. Soon enough the year will be over and you can start thinking of your next ones…!