Today's the day to start the year over again
Experts calculate 15 March is day to wipe the slate clean and re-make your New Year resolutions for 2008
Today (Saturday 15th March 2008) is the day to start the year over again, according to new research commissioned by Virgin Money. After finding that 10 million people gave up their New Year’s resolutions within weeks, they decided to investigate the best date for a second chance at making changes in 2008.
Scott Mowbray of Virgin Money says, “One of the most popular resolutions for 2008 was to be better with money – but of those who failed, no-one lasted longer than a fortnight. Alistair Darling’s budget has given us a warning that 2008 could be a bad year for our pockets; so we asked experts to work out the best day for people to start their resolutions afresh and be better off in 2008.”
Virgin Money’s personal finance experts worked with psychologist David Lewis to work out the optimum date to review their resolutions. Dr Lewis devised the date taking into account decisive factors such as hours of sunshine per month, levels of optimism, energy levels and resistance to change.
He concluded that March is ideal because it’s the first month of the year when the sunshine levels hit 100 hours per month on average and when both levels of optimism and energy hit the mid-points on a 10 point scale while resistance to change drops below 4 on a seven point scale. Any earlier and you are more likely to fail, any later and you will have wasted some weeks when change would have been more likely to have succeeded.
Virgin Money’s Scott Mowbray says; "Our research concluded you have the best chance of making long-lasting changes when in the optimistic, higher energy state that starts around 15th March. This means that anyone feeling that they may have missed the boat can re-make their resolutions today and have a far better chance of keeping them.
Re-making your resolutions on this date will give you a better chance to think them through and plan them properly; versus making them on the dark, depressing and often hungover day of January 1st.”
Scott Mowbray adds, “If your resolution is to be better with money, make a clear goal and work out how you can achieve it. Then be sure to shop around for offers - like our Virgin Credit Card that will help you be better off.”
Virgin Money credit card offers a market leading 0.00% p.a. balance transfer rate* for 15 months and 0.00% p.a. on purchases for 3 months from the date your account is opened. After the introductory period is over the card will revert to a standard typical rate of 15.9% APR (variable).
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For more information, contact:
Jo Tubbs, Frank PR, 020 7693 6999
jotubbs@frankpr.it
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
TOP TIPS TO HELP YOU STICK TO YOUR RESOLUTIONS IN 2008:
Virgin Credit Card has compiled advice for Brits who want to re-make their Resolutions on 15th March.
1. Be Realistic:
Don’t set yourself unattainable goals. Take the first little step and build on from there, bearing in mind that smaller goals will be easier to incorporate into your routine.
2. Outline your Plan:
Write a game plan, outlining exactly what you want to achieve and how you are going to achieve it, including timings where possible. Putting it in writing will mean that you are more likely to succeed.
3. Talk about it:
Tell your friends and family about your goals. It might also help if you find a friend who shares some of your goals for 2008, so that you can keep each other motivated.
4. Break it down and make it less intimidating:
Rather than one BIG end goal, dissect it into several smaller goals to achieve throughout the year that will help you to reach the ultimate goal. Then even if you aren’t able to reach your final goal, you will have many smaller, but still significant, achievements along the way.
5. Reward yourself:
If you’ve been good all week or month, don’t forget to give yourself a little reward.
6. Track your Progress:
Keep a diary and look through it during times of weakness to remind yourself of how hard you have been working and why you should keep going.
7. Stick to it:
It takes around 21days for a new activity such as exercise to become a habit. Stick to your goals and they will become second nature in no time.
8. Keep trying and don’t give up:
It might be hard but if you keep trying, you’ll be pleased with yourself at the end of the year!
9. Don’t go it alone!
Get professional assistance. Everyone needs help and enlisting the services of a trained professional may just be that extra incentive you need to keep going.
10. Limit your number of promises:
You’ll spread yourself too thin trying to make multiple changes in your life. Don’t be tempted to try to solve all of your issues at once.
BACKGROUND ON BRITS & THEIR RESOLUTIONS
‘Lose weight’ was the top priority for people in 2008 (50% of us), closely followed by ‘Be better with money’ (30% of us) ‘Giving up smoking’ (20%) and finally ‘Take up a hobby’ and ‘Drink less’ (both 11%). Some of the more ‘unusual’ resolutions from those polled included ‘to return to naturism’ and ‘Get a full time job in accounts’ – hopefully not by the same person!
Being better with money was also the resolution which we abandoned most quickly, with nearly one in ten of those failing doing so after only one hour and all off those failing doing so within 2 weeks.
32% of people who failed with their resolution’s only managed to last one day without cigarettes, 36% only made it till the end of the week before giving up on their new dieting regime and 36% only made it as far as the two week mark before drinking alcohol.
The reasons they gave for failing included: not being committed enough (40%); setting themselves too difficult a challenge (29%); not thinking the resolution through properly (17%) and being drunk when the resolution was made (4%).
The Formula explained:
By March, levels of optimism on a scale of 1 - 10 (where 1 = little or none and 10 = total) and energy levels on the same scale (i.e. 1 - 10) average out at 5 each. Resistance to change (where 1 = none and 7 = total) average out at 3.5. On average, and across the UK, this would therefore give 100/ ((5+5) - 3.5) = 100/6.5 = March 15th.
Notes to Editors:
* Handling fee of 2.98% applies
- One thousand people surveyed as part of the research commissioned by Virgin Money and undertaken by independent research agency, Ciao Research, January 2008.
- Virgin Credit Card gives you 0% p.a. for 15 months on balance transfers* (2.98% handling fee applies) and 0% p.a. for 3 months on card purchases* (15.9% APR typical rate (variable). You'll also get 50 days interest free on your card purchases, as long as you pay your statement balance in full and on time every month.
- A Virgin Credit Card also opens the door to a world of top notch Virgin discounts. Money off holidays, wine, music, DVDs, car insurance plus a range of money-off deals on our Offers and discounts page.
The Virgin Credit Card is issued by MBNA Europe Bank Limited, Registered Office: Stansfield House, Chester Business Park, Chester, CH4 9QQ. Registered in England Number 2783251. For full details of MBNA interest rates and payment requirements please see the terms and conditions of the credit card. Written quotations available on request. Credit is available, subject to status, only to UK residents aged 18 or over. As the Virgin Credit Card is issued by MBNA you can't transfer a balance from another credit card issued by them. For details of how your repayments are used to pay off your balance, please refer to section 2f of your terms and conditions. We will monitor or record some phone calls. MBNA Europe Bank Ltd is authorised to accept deposits by the Financial Services Authority in the UK and licensed to provide consumer credit by the Office of Fair Trading in the UK. MBNA Europe Bank Ltd is entered on the Financial Services Authority's Register (www.fsa.gov.uk/register/) with Financial Services Authority Register Number 204487.
The Virgin Credit Card is offered through Virgin Money Ltd, registered office: Discovery House, Whiting Road, Norwich, NR4 6EJ. Registered in England no. 4232392. Virgin Money Ltd is an introducer appointed representative only of Virgin Money Personal Financial Service Ltd.
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