New Year's Resolutions: How to Make Them Work

Have you ever heard of “average Tuesday” resolutions: when one day you decide to turn your life around and never look back?

That works for some people, but “average Tuesday” resolutions, and even birthday resolutions, are far from a social phenomenon that New Year’s resolutions are. So what is it about the New Year that makes it so special?

New Year is a milestone that we all experience together, so it feels like a more powerful turning point, a fresh start. Throwing the old calendar in the bin, you want to leave the old “you” behind in the last year, too.

Also, people are in higher spirits during the holidays. We want a miracle. But the sound of jingle bells fades, inspiration turns into grind, and the old “you” catches up with you again. So is there a way to make the New Year’s resolutions last? Let’s look at the strategies that work.

What are the most popular New Year’s resolutions?

A survey of 18 thousand respondents in seventeen countries shows that the strongest focus of resolutions is on physical health. Other priorities in the top 5 are: managing money better, spending time with friends and family, improving mental health, and traveling more.

New Year’s resolutions statistics in the US

Around 30% of Americans make New Year’s resolutions. However, there’s a noticeable age variation – almost a half of adults between 18 to 29 make at least one resolution, but the rate drops to 31% for ages 30-49, and further to 21% for those aged 50 and older.

According to Statista, top resolutions in the US are: exercising more, saving money, eating healthier, and spending more time with loved ones. Doing more for the environment and improving job performance are more often on the list since last year.

How fast do New Year’s resolutions fail?

As Forbes Health survey found, for the majority of people, resolutions last 2-3 months. So, by the time April rolls around, over a half of respondents have given up on their New Year’s resolutions.

The further into a year, the lower the drop-off rate was, though some people were quitting as far as in November and even December. Only 6% upheld their resolutions by the beginning of the next year.

Reasons why resolutions don’t work

• External pressure for change, not an internal need. According to Forbes Health survey, over 60% of respondents feel pressured to set at least one New Year’s resolution.
• A resolution doesn’t have a concrete plan behind it. It’s more of a wish.
• Taking on too much at once. Either too grand of a goal or too many goals, so it’s hard to stay focused and see the progress.
• Never picking up after stumbling. When you inevitably slip and break your streak, and take it as a sign that the resolution failed altogether.
• Not cutting things out to make room for your priorities. If you just keep adding without making an effort to subtract, you’ll end up overwhelmed and burned out.
• The initial discomfort is too daunting. Change means getting out of the comfort zone, and it’s unpleasant. There’s a temptation to slip into familiar habits.
• The methods are unsuitable or unsustainable. You don’t have to loathe the process before you even begin. If you hate the gym for any reason, resolving on going there won’t last long.

Vision-based strategy and 7 tips to make New Year’s resolutions last

There’s a concept of “Why-How-What” – the “Golden Circle” – and similar vision-based models. We start with the ultimate goal, then think of the strategy to get there, and finally, about the specific tactics.

“Why”, the bigger goal, the horizon to aim for. How does your “Why” relate to your values?

“How”, the way to achieve the goal.

“What”, the practicalities of the implementation.

Start with “Why”, but make resolutions on “What”.

Here are the examples for the areas that top the New Year’s resolutions lists worldwide: physical health and finances.

Resolution: getting in better shape

Why: I want to be healthier and decrease the risk of heart diseases.

How: I’ll move towards this goal by losing weight.

What: I’ll be exercising at least 3 times a week for an hour. I’ll make a list of healthy foods and dishes, and they’ll be at least 70% of my nutrition.

Three of the top five resolutions in the US are related to physical health – exercising more, eating healthier, losing weight. Most likely they’re all “how’s” rooted in the same “why”.

Resolution: budgeting and saving money

Why: I want to have my necessary expenses covered and a financial cushion so I could spend time on things I love with peace of mind. There’s a big purchase I want to save for.

How: I’ll cut down on unnecessary spending and increase my earning potential.

What: I will follow at least three principles of minimalism. I will plan at least four hours every week on education and improving skills.

Always keep your “Why” in mind

When you lose focus, feel stressed and overwhelmed, it’s much easier to throw in the towel. Keeping your vision, your ultimate goal clear in your mind will help with overcoming the obstacles.

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1. Frame the resolutions as something you Do, not something you Don’t

When you frame the sentence as a “Don’t”, the focus is still on the subject you try to avoid, so it’s what the brain is drawn toward. So, instead of starting resolutions with “I will stop…” or “I will no longer…”, frame them in terms of action, not deprivation.

“I will not smoke” → “I will resist smoking”.

Whenever you have an urge to do what you’d rather avoid, what are you planning to do instead? Resolve on that, and keep it in focus.

2. Think of things you successfully did before and aim to replicate and scale them

In the book Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, authors discovered that, while learning from past mistakes is important, digging into everything that went wrong isn’t the most practical thing. It’s more efficient to concentrate on things that went right, see what led to them, and how we could repeat and enhance them.

So, you had some wins in the past – which actions and circumstances preceded them? What was done right? Try to start with that – it could be the path to lasting change.

3. If you add to your agenda, be clear on what you’ll subtract

Unless you constantly find yourself wondering what to do with your free time, your days are already 100% full. Not necessarily full of meaningful things; even if it’s doom scrolling that takes over an hour every day, it fills your day nonetheless.

So, if you want to exercise for 20 minutes every day, those minutes have to come from somewhere. Frame it in terms of “instead of”.

And if you think everything you do during the day is necessary and it’s hardly possible to make room, you’ll likely benefit from delegating more. See how to delegate tasks efficiently.

4. Setbacks are bumps in the road, not breaking points

There will be obstacles, external and internal, that will throw you off track at some point. But stumbling doesn’t mean you have to quit.

You don’t fail your New Year’s resolutions if you stumble. You only fail if you stop.

5. Keep yourself accountable

Accountability means having someone or something that you have to justify your actions to, and deal with the consequences of unsatisfactory actions. If there’s no feedback or clear consequence when you break your resolution, it’s more tempting to do so.

Does announcing the resolutions help you uphold them?

People announce their goals to friends and on social media as a method of accountability. It could create a short-term boost of encouragement, and perhaps help with finding someone who’s on the same journey, so you could keep each other accountable moving forward.

But it’s unlikely that your friends and followers will consistently keep you accountable for a promise made weeks or months ago.

Efficient accountability methods

Methods that have proven their long term efficiency are: keeping a journal or a planner; an app for habit tracking or budgeting. They work as long as you make entries regularly.

When you track what’s actually happening, it’s much harder to come up with excuses. You also get a better picture of where your weak spots are, so you could pay more attention and correct them.

Related: How to improve consistency and discipline.

6. Focus on the process rather than on specific numbers

If you have a number in mind, like a certain amount of weight you want to lose, there are two obvious ways it could go wrong:

• You don’t hit the number as fast as you’d like and get discouraged.
• You do achieve the number, get complacent and won’t put as much effort into the routines that got you there.

So it’s better to concentrate on the process itself and use the milestones for encouragement, not as goals in and of themselves.

7. Celebrate milestones with healthy rewards

Speaking of milestones – to be even more motivated, you could reward yourself for reaching them. However, rewards should be healthy. Here are a few ways to treat yourself without resorting to food or shopping.

Are you up for a challenge? Try the 30-day self-improvement challenge for personal growth.