THE CLIMB: JANUARY

On RESOLUTIONS

With the start of a new year, comes the tradition of setting new goals for oneself. The tradition of New Year’s Resolutions started with the Ancient Babylonia’s some 4,000 years ago. While most of us don’t set goals to align with crop planting like the Babylonians did, we still celebrate the start of setting new goals, such as fitness, beauty, and other health & wellness ideas. With health & wellness in mind, Dry January is a common tradition that a lot of individuals find themselves participating in. 

Since the start of 2013, Dry January started as a health and awareness campaign by bringing recognition to excessive and harmful drinking by encouraging individuals to approach their goal day-by-day, and thus making it more attainable. Dry January has proven to help jump start weight-loss goals, contribute to lowering anxiety and winter blues, while also encouraging more normal sleep patterns.

An independent evaluation in 2014 by the University of Sussex found that 72% of participants had sustained reduction in levels of harmful drinking 6 months after completing the 31 day challenge of being alcohol free. This shows that Dry January is an effective behavior change campaign that is effective! 

If this is not enough of a reason, just think that once the 31 days are done, you can successfully check off one of your New Year's Resolutions!