• by Aliza Freud , Columnist, December 23, 2016

It’s the dawn of a New Year. And it’s that time of year when people start to think about New Year’s resolutions. Well, maybe not everyone!

We recently asked moms whether they planned to make a New Year’s resolution and just 30% said yes. One mom commented, “I’m so tired of hearing about resolutions! Why bother making them? I end up breaking them within the first few weeks of the year. Why set myself up for failure?”

This is not to say that moms are not interested in accomplishing things in 2017, but they do not think of these things as resolutions. Instead, they think of them as goals.

A full 97% of women that we surveyed said they had very specific goals for the New Year and looked forward to achieving them.

So, what is the difference between a resolution and a goal? While this may seem like semantics, it is not in the eyes of moms that we surveyed. One told us, “Resolutions are so binary. You are either always doing it or you aren’t. A goal seems much more flexible and achievable to me. I don’t have to be ‘resolute’ in my journey to achieve the goal.”

With that said, here are the top goals for moms in 2017:

1. Get healthy

2. Be happy

3. Make my home environment more peaceful and beautiful 

4. Make a positive impact on my community (i.e., by volunteering more)

And here are the top ways that women plan to find happiness and balance in their lives:

1. Spending time with family

2. Doing little things for themselves

3. Exercising

4. Having quiet/meditation time 

5. Spending quality time with friends

As we head into 2017, brands that target moms should also consider her state of mind. When we asked moms which emotion best described her state of mind as we approach the New Year, the #1 answer (at 64%) was optimistic, #2 was happy at 49% and, coming in a distant third was anxious at 36%.

Are you surprised by any of our findings? Feel free to respond in the comments below or tweet me at @shespeaking if you have questions.