Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Get all the facts and stats on New Year's traditions with the New Year's Facts infographic from History.com.

Happy 2017! January 1 is both refreshing and daunting. A new year is a chance for a clean start, but I often end up failing at New Year’s resolutions before I even really get a chance to try.

According to this infographic, the top resolutions for this upcoming year are dieting, exercising more, losing weight, saving more money, learning new skills, quitting smoking, reading more, finding another job, drinking less and spending more time with loved ones.

Whew. That’s a lot to take in –– especially when you realize that people often don’t stick to their resolutions. For example, only 44% of people are able to successfully eat healthier, while 54% succeed in exercising more....

New Year’s Eve has always been one fun holiday, in my opinion. When I was little, I celebrated the stroke of midnight by setting of a bunch of big, loud fireworks. (With parental supervision, of course.) Now that I’m older – and of legal drinking age – I celebrate by popping a bottle of champagne. Being from a Southern state, my family has always followed the tradition of making and eating black eyed peas for luck on New Year’s Day.

Although I love the traditions I’ve always followed to celebrate this holiday, I can’t help but want to explore others. For one, I’ve always wanted to be in New York to see the ball drop at Times Square, instead of watching it on my TV. According to the infographic, there are other interesting traditions that people all around the world follow to celebrate.

While some sound crazy – like diving into a frozen lake in Siberia – others aren’t too far of a stretch from my traditions – like eating grapes in Spain. Whether you celebrate with fireworks, champagne, or different lucky meals, it’s always fun to ring in the new year with good people.

Happy New Year to all and may all your curations sparkle!

~ Jeff