FINDER, the independent comparison site has surveyed 1,013 Australians with questions around how they are setting themselves up for 2022.

It turns out 72% of Australians – almost 14 million people – have set a New Year’s resolution.

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That’s 2.1 million less people compared to last year.

The survey covers various categories such as health, weight loss, money management and career.

For 2022 the survey found nearly one in three have pledged to improve their fitness and adopt healthier eating habits (30%), while 28% are motivated to lose weight.

These figures are a paring back of the weight loss and eating habits percentages of 2021’s survey, where over half the adult population (51%) hoped to improve their fitness and weight loss.

More than 3 in 4 (78%) Australians say they have set financial goals for 2022.

Saving more (51%) and spending less (32%) is top of mind for some, with investing more (24%) and buying cryptocurrency (8%) figuring in the data.

This compares to 2021 resolutions which report the lower figures of 42% resolving to save more money or reduce their spending in 2021.

The research reveals 7% of Australians – equivalent to around 1.3 million people – plan on taking more risks in 2022.

The same number (7%) are hoping to find love.

Nearly 1 in 10 (8%) will endeavour to have a better work-life balance, while around 1 in 8 (13%) plan to sleep more.

Five percent of respondents want to start meditating.

Buying a home is on the list for 12% of Aussies, while 10% will try to pay off credit debt and 5% will aim to knock off student loans.

It’s hard to know what these figures really mean as opportunities and possibilities have changed dramatically over the past year, and again in the year before that.

Nevertheless, making a resolution or setting a goal is a valid response to making a personal shift.

Coffs Harbour-based Professor Christian Swann, Chair of Discipline (Human Sciences), Human Science, Faculty of Health, Southern Cross University, who studies and lectures on goal setting told News Of The Area, “An alternative to setting specific goals that research suggests works effectively is setting open goals – they’re non-specific and exploratory, often phrased as aiming to ‘see how well I can do’.

“When you set an open goal, your focus is on your starting point.

“If your goal is to ‘see how many steps I can reach today’, then as your step count rises, it will feel like you’re making progress.

“You may start to think, ‘Oh, I’m already on 2,000 steps…now it’s 3,000 steps…let’s see how many I can get to’.
“Rather than comparing against where you should be, you’re constantly building on your starting point.

That makes the process much more positive – and the more positive we feel, the more we’ll want to do it again and again.

“To set your own open goals, think first about what you want to improve (for example ‘being more active’).

“Then identify what you want to measure, such as your daily average step count.

“Phrase your goal in an open-ended, exploratory way: ‘I want to see how high I can get my average daily step count by the end of the year’.

“And then get started.

“With an open goal, you’re more likely to see progress, enjoy the experience, and stick with it until you’re ready to set – and achieve – more specific goals.”

By Andrea FERRARI