2008 New Year's
Resolutions Signal Shift in Consumers' Priorities
Scottsdale, AZ — December 4, 2007 —
myGoals.com today announced its annual predictions describing what
types of resolutions people are expected to make during the coming
New Year's season.
myGoals.com, the Web's premiere site for
setting and reaching personal and professional goals, bases its
predictions on the current year's third quarter goal-setting
activity. According to an anonymous, random sample of goals people
have set at the site, this year's New Year's resolutions are
expected to break down as follows:
Please feel free to
reproduce this press release, data,
or graphics (in whole or in
part) with credit to
myGoals.com.
Heightened Interest in Career and Paying Down Debt
"In 2008, we expect people to focus a lot of time and energy improving their careers and getting out of debt," said Greg Helmstetter, CEO of myGoals.com. Two of the top three most popular resolutions will involve starting businesses and becoming debt-free. The number one resolution, to lose weight, remains unchanged in popularity year after year.
Resolutions related to debt reduction are expected to increase sharply as a percentage of all finance-related resolutions (52%, up from 26% last year). Resolutions related to saving money are also on the rise, up from 11% to 24% of all finance-related resolutions.
Career-related goals are the rise, expected to comprise 21% of all New Year's resolutions, up from just 12% last year. "There is a strong entrepreneurial current running through this trend," said Helmstetter. "More and more people are realizing that one of the best ways to get ahead is to strike out on their own, not to mention the freedom and satisfaction that come from being one's own boss." Thirty percent of career-related resolutions are expected to be entrepreneurial in nature, up from 20% last New Year's.
A Chilly Year for Real Estate
Resolutions related to home improvement and real estate are expected to drop to a mere 3% of all resolutions made, down from 7% last New Year's. "Fewer people are thinking about buying or selling homes right now," said Helmstetter. "However, among those who are, all of the interest has shifted to buying, particularly at reduced prices."
Last year, 9% of real estate-related resolutions involved selling, and 9% involved buying. This year, myGoals.com expects a massive 64% of real estate resolutions to involve buying and almost no resolutions (0-2%) to involve selling. "That's not to say that people won't think about selling any time in 2008," says Helmstetter. "But when it comes to making New Year's resolutions, selling the house is the last thing on people's minds this year."
A Strong Year for Travel
Resolutions related to travel are expected to increase dramatically to a whopping 80% of all recreation and leisure-related resolutions, up from just 20% last year. "Be on the lookout for people to give in to their wanderlust more than ever this year," said Helmstetter. And the most popular destinations may suggest something new. "This year, we're seeing as many people who want to backpack through Europe as there are interested in visiting Disney World. We're not sure what it means, but it's pretty interesting."
Actual goals people have recently set
in this category:
"To fit into my favorite jeans" "To sleep better" "To reduce stress in my life" "To reduce body fat to 10.6%"
Of Interest (Health &
Fitness):
Weight loss is the #1 most common
resolution, with the most common amount people want to lose
being 10 pounds. We offer a pre-made GoalPlan, "To Lose 10 Pounds," to help people get
started.
Five percent of Health & Fitness goals were related to getting more sleep, which has not been as pronounced in previous years.
Actual goals people have recently set
in this category:
"To find a life partner with similar values" "To create and enforce household rules" "To be a happy wife" "To
maintain contact with friends"
Of Interest (Family &
Relationships):
Of all socially-oriented goals, those related to Family jumped dramatically from 13% last year to 63% this year. "To Spend More Time with My Family" is a
very popular goal for which we offer a pre-made
GoalPlan.
Actual goals people have recently set
in this category:
"To landscape the yard" "To spring-clean my apartment" "To redecorate my living room" "To clean out my room and closet"
Of interest (Home Improvement & Real Estate):
Fewer people are setting goals related to real estate overall. However, among those who are, goals to buy a home have increased dramatically (from 9% to 64%) and goals to sell a home dropped from 9% to 0% of real estate-related goals.
myGoals.com's annual
predictions of New Year's resolutions are based on the ordinary
goal-setting activity of myGoals.com users during the third quarter of the current calendar year. Five hundred anonymized goals, set by
the site's users, were selected at random and tabulated to generate
the trends outlined above. No survey was involved; these are actual goals set by everyday users. This is not a
scientific study and should not be taken to represent the behavior
of the entire U.S. population with statistical significance.
myGoals.com's userbase does, however, generally broadly represent
the adult, U.S. Web-surfing population.
About
myGoals.com, Inc.
myGoals.com is the Web's premier site
for setting, managing, and reaching personal and professional goals.
Individuals can set as many goals as they like, creating custom
GoalPlans from scratch or selecting from a library of pre-made
GoalPlans that contain expert advice for accomplishing the goal.
myGoals.com then sends email reminders to keep the individual on
track, until the goal is accomplished. This subscription-based
service is free to trial for 10 days. Gift certificates available.
# # #
NOW SCHEDULING INTERVIEWS
MEDIA
CONTACT: Anthony Helmstetter myGoals.com, Inc. (480)
948-1659 press@mygoals.com
