New Year 2026-How to Sustain Your Resolution/s
Evidence of people being able to make behavioural changes after setting New Year resolutions is mixed. Success is most evident immediately after the new year however it decreases soon afterwards. Approach-oriented goals (positive), rather than avoidance-oriented goals (negative) , are said to lead to better results. In a 2014 report, 35% of participants who failed to keep their New Year resolutions admitted they had unrealistic goals, 33% of participants did not monitor their progress, 23% forgot about them and the remaining respondents felt they had simply made too many resolutions.
In 1972 a study of 382 students at the University of Wisconsin showed minimal impact of New Year resolutions on weight loss commitments, with the study finding that making a resolution or being monitored did not significantly affect weight loss.
A 2007 study by Richard Wiseman from the University of Bristol involving 3,000 people showed that 88% of those who set New Year resolutions fail, despite 52% of the study’s participants being confident of success at the beginning. Men achieved their goal 22% more often when they engaged in goal setting and where resolutions were made in terms of small and measurable goals (e.g., “lose a pound a week” rather than “lose weight”).
Of course, one might argue the two studies mentioned above were biased in that the majority were young people at a time when they were embarking on an independent life from their families. Thus, they lacked ‘parental oversight’ and were with a group of peers’ intent on having a ‘good’ time.
The Most Popular New Year’s Resolutions included:
Health, diet or exercise (79%)
Money or finances (61%)
Relationships with family or friends (57%)
Hobbies or personal interests (55%)
Work or career (49%)
Something else (42%)
NB- The goals in this category ranged widely, emphasising how personal, varied and difficult resolution-setting can be.
Interestingly 44% maintained their resolutions into March/April with only 1% lasting less than one month.
So, what is the secret to setting and successfully maintaining New Year resolutions?
Most experts in psychology and motivation advise setting intended and achievable goals. Avoid vague concepts like ‘lose weight’, ‘read more’, ‘get a new job’ or ‘be nicer to Mum’ for example. Resolutions often fail because they are unclear, unrealistic and too broad.
Be realistic in what you set out to achieve, it needs to be something you want to invest in and that fits with your core values. It needs to be within your control and not feel like entering purgatory or punishment.
Don’t use fixed language like ‘always’ or ‘never’ as it can create a rigid, inflexible approach that paints you into a corner. Pledging you’ll ‘always go to the gym on workdays’, or you are ‘never drinking alcohol again’ just sets you up to fail as it makes you feel bad about it if you miss out on your aim. This might lead to abandoning the effort if it seems too difficult to maintain.
Prepare for failure and don’t let one or two slip-ups deter you or be an excuse to give up. For someone who sets out to go to the gym on workdays, if you miss a session on Monday because you are tired after a busy weekend or workday, accept it and either focus on what you have achieved or indeed modify your pledge to something more realistic such as I will go to the gym for an hour, no less than three days a week after work. So set realistic and achievable goals and aim for progress, not perfection. The first step toward positive change can come from the sense of contentment that comes from adjusting your goals in a way that is more realistic and comfortable to you.
One way of organising your goals and ensuring this, is to use the SMART goals framework, in other words ensuring goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed.
Make a plan that fits the action into your daily routine. Aim to break down significant goals into smaller, actionable tasks. Perhaps find someone to share the action with (e.g. a gym buddy) or someone to share your experience of it with and reflect upon it with.
All in all, setting and sustaining New Year resolutions is complicated, but if it is done in a structured and realistic way it is achievable and can be very rewarding.
Sources:
1 Davis, S & Hall A (2023) New Year’s Resolutions Statistics, Forbes Health, Jersey City.
2 Better Help (2025) New Year’s Resolutions: Statistics And Evidence-Based Strategies 3 For Success, Better Help, San Jose, CA
4 Gracia S (2024) New Year’s resolutions: Who makes them and why, Pew Research Center, Washington.
