Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Is the King of New Year's Resolutions

From killing what he eats to wearing a tie, a look at Zuck's past resolutions.

ByABC News
December 29, 2014, 3:44 AM
Mark Zuckerberg addresses the crowd gathered during his keynote address at Facebook's f8 developers conference in San Francisco, Calif. on April 30, 2014.
Mark Zuckerberg addresses the crowd gathered during his keynote address at Facebook's f8 developers conference in San Francisco, Calif. on April 30, 2014.
Robert Galbraith/Reuters

— -- If you ever need shaming into keeping up with a New Year's resolution, look no further than the example set by Mark Zuckerberg.

The billionaire CEO of Facebook is known for choosing an ambitious personal challenge to take on at the start of each year.

Zuckerberg, 30, said at a town hall earlier this month that he will likely decide during the last week of this year what his resolution will be for 2015.

"I spend so much time running this company I want to be able to do other things outside of that too," Zuckerberg said, explaining why resolutions have been so important to him. "I will have one. I just don't have it yet."

Judging by his previous resolutions, what Zuckerberg will do next is anyone's guess, however he has an impressive track record.

In 2009, Zuckerberg swapped his trademark hoodies and t-shirts and vowed to wear a tie every day to work.

PHOTO: Mark Zuckerberg speaks during a dialogue with students on Oct. 22, 2014 as a newly-appointed member to the advisory board for Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management in Beijing, China.
Mark Zuckerberg speaks during a dialogue with students on Oct. 22, 2014 as a newly-appointed member to the advisory board for Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management in Beijing, China.

The next year, he worked to learned Mandarin Chinese, a language that is not only important in the business world, but one spoken by many members of Zuckerberg's wife's family.

The world got to see the payoff in October of this year when the CEO charmed a crowd at Tsinghua University in Beijing by participating in a 30-minute question and answer session in Mandarin.

Zuckerberg's challenge in 2011 was to become a vegetarian and only eat meat if he butchered the animal himself.

"The reason for this is that I feel lucky for having such a great life," Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page. "I like eating meat and before this year I ate it almost every day. In order to practice thankfulness, I want to be more connected to the food I eat and the animals that give their lives so I can eat them."

PHOTO: Mark Zuckerberg is seen during a visit to the Japanese Prime Minister's official residence in Tokyo on Oct. 20, 2014.
Mark Zuckerberg is seen during a visit to the Japanese Prime Minister's official residence in Tokyo on Oct. 20, 2014.

For 2012, Zuckerberg set a goal to return to coding -- something he hadn't had a chance to have much involvement in as he grew the business of Facebook.

The next year, Zuckerberg made it a point to meet someone new outside Facebook every day -- something he said in interviews turned out to be easier than he expected.

This year, the tech titan has been busy practicing gratitude by writing one thank you note per day. He said at a town hall earlier this month that it had been a surprisingly difficult challenge.

"There are people who see the beauty of things," he told the audience. "Then there are people who see things and want to make them better, and I tend to be the latter."