Only 59% Follow Through With Their New Year Resolutions

SINGAPORE--(Marketwired - Dec 29, 2013) - A poll of over 800 people across Singapore and Malaysia revealed that the biggest challenges to people fulfilling their New Year resolutions are lack of willpower and discipline, and lack of time due to work commitments. In a Live Great survey conducted by life insurance group, Great Eastern, to discover the top New Year resolutions Singaporeans and Malaysians make and their successes in achieving those goals, 56% of respondents said that lack of willpower and discipline was their greatest challenge in realising their quests. 

The online survey conducted over a two-week period earlier this month also highlighted lack of time due to work (53%) and family commitments (22%) as the second and third contributing causes respectively weakening people's resolve in their new year pursuits. Despite the challenges, 59% of the respondents declared that they had accomplished their goals in 2013 and were still maintaining them at the time of the survey. 41% confessed to not achieving them and of these, 26% disclosed that they had managed to hold on to their resolutions for only one to three months (see Annex). The study also highlighted that most respondents (48%) had chosen to take on their personal challenges by themselves, without seeking external support. When asked about the success rate of sole endeavours against those planned with others, 53% admitted that plans involving other people achieved a higher success rate compared to solo efforts.

For 2014, the top resolutions for survey respondents remain unchanged from 2013. When asked what could help them fare better in 2014, 82% of respondents replied that they plan to seek the help of friends, family or their partners:

• 54% plan to seek the help of at least one family member
• 40% will look to their better halves
• 39% would turn to their close friends for support; and
• 24% declared that support from colleagues could help to motivate them

People looking for help to fulfill their New Year resolutions can from 1 January 2014 visit Great Eastern's enhanced health and wellness digital hub, www.greateasternlife.com/livegreat. With all-new actionable content tailored to readers' needs, the enhanced digital hub presents a higher level of interactivity and engagement via a mobile responsive interface. 

Visitors to the hub from 1 January to 12 February can also sign up to take on a series of challenges focused on helping them achieve New Year resolutions. By teaming up with a family member, friend or loved one, participating duos will work together towards resolutions like exercising more regularly, eating healthier, and better weight management. 

They would also find a wealth of useful tools, articles and tips on topics related to exercise, nutrition and weight management that would help maintain the momentum of their pursuits. As an added motivation, participating teams who complete the most tasks and who share their task completion statuses on Facebook in the most interesting ways stand to win movie passes, shopping vouchers, and the grand prize of a spa holiday trip to Bali for two.

Mr Chris Wei, Group CEO, Great Eastern Holdings said, "Great starts small and comes from a choice you make. In time, it leads to something more. We champion these little changes for the better, and one of the changes we are suggesting people make to live great in 2014 is to involve friends and loved ones more in their aspirations. Together, everything is more achievable, more meaningful. In 2014, don't just live great, live great together."

For more information, please visit www.greateasternlife.com/livegreat.

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About Great Eastern
Great Eastern is the oldest and most established life insurance group in Singapore and Malaysia. With S$59.5 billion in assets and around 4.0 million policyholders, it has three successful distribution channels - a tied agency force, bancassurance, and a financial advisory firm, Great Eastern Financial Advisers. The Group also operates in Indonesia, Vietnam, Brunei and China. It was named Life Insurance Company of the Year at the Asia Insurance Industry Awards in 2011 and 2013 by Asia Insurance Review. The Great Eastern Life Assurance Company Limited has been assigned the financial strength and counterparty credit ratings of "AA-" by Standard and Poor's since 2010, one of the highest among Asian life insurance companies. Great Eastern's asset management subsidiary, Lion Global Investors Limited, is one of the largest private sector asset management companies in Southeast Asia.

Great Eastern is a subsidiary of OCBC Bank, the second largest financial services group in Southeast Asia by assets. It is one of the world's most highly-rated banks, with an "Aa1" rating from Moody's. It is also ranked by Bloomberg Markets as the World's strongest bank in 2011 and 2012. OCBC Bank's key markets are Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Greater China. It has a network of over 450 branches and representative offices in 15 countries and territories, including about 330 branches and offices in Indonesia operated by its subsidiary, Bank OCBC NISP.