What is your New Year’s resolution?

According to a survey conducted by market research platform Statista, the top five resolutions for 2023 are as follows:

• No. 5: To spend more time with family and friends
• No. 4: To save more money
• No. 3: To lose weight
• No. 2: To weight healthier
• No. 1: To exercise more

Just missing the top five  was “to spend less time on social media.” The goals “to reduce stress on the job” and “to reduce spending on living expenses” claimed spots seven and eight.

What about you? Do these goals rank in your 2023 plans?

Crucially, the survey results were from “U.S. respondents who have made one or several” resolutions. According to YouGov.com, an international research data and analytics group, 37 percent of Americans say they will definitely have one or more resolutions for 2023; another 17 percent said they were unsure.

Are you making resolutions this year?

The eight listed above are probably some of the most common ideals people recommit to pursuing each January. Other popular goals? Many people will set a goal to read more, focus on spiritual matters, travel, start flossing or drinking more water, quit a bad habit – like smoking or mindlessly scrolling social media – or pursue a change in their career, whether that’s changing jobs or getting a promotion or raise.

Although some folks balk at the idea of using Jan. 1 as a motivation to pursue something better in some aspect of life, there’s a reason New Year’s resolutions still continue to be an annual tradition for many.

The turn of a year can feel like the perfect time to turn over a new leaf. After all, sometimes it’s best for the days of auld lang syne to be forgotten. The clean slate of a new year gives us all an opportunity to put the past behind us and focus on the potential of the future.

And if we can be self-centered for a moment, maybe this is the year you resolve to get a local newspaper subscription. Maybe this is the year you follow us on social media? Maybe this is the year you write your first ever letter to the editor. Maybe this year you resolve to pick up extra copies of the bimonthly Franklin Living to share with friends.

Ultimately, whether you call it a resolution or not, and whether you start Jan. 1 or not, anytime is a good time to make a positive transformation in your life.

But why not now?

Happy New Year, everyone.