Why most New Year resolutions fail and how to actually keep them
2023 is just around the corner and everyone is excited to start the new year as a changed person. You tell yourself that you’re going to lose weight, get healthier, save more money, cut down your vices etc. However, people get caught up in the hubris of the festive season and end up falling short with their resolutions halfway into January! According to discoverhappyhabits.com, only 9-12% of people kept their New Year’s resolutions this year. So why do many resolutions fail and how can we actually stick to them? Let’s find out.
Why do most New Year resolutions fail?
3 common reasons why most resolutions fail are due to the following:
Reason 1: Setting unrealistic New Year resolutions
I think this is the most common reason. People become over-confident in themselves during the festive time and make vague or lofty goals that are hard to achieve. For example, you tell yourself:
“Starting January 1st, I’m going to lose weight and be healthier. Look out world, here I come!“. Or you tell yourself that you’re “going cold turkey” and quitting smoking because you suddenly have the willpower and that 2023 is “different“; you just know because you can feel it. Yeah…no. It’s not gonna happen.
Reason 2: Setting too many resolutions
Pretty much self-explanatory. It’s the festive season and you get excited and make resolutions while you’re “caught in the moment“.
Reason 3: Not keeping track of progress or forgetting your resolutions
On New Year’s eve, it’s easy to follow the crowd or your friends and loudly proclaim to everyone that you’re going to stop drinking alcohol all together so that you can be healthier. Then, a month later, with a stubby in your hand, you remember “Damn, I’m supposed to be alcohol-free. Oh well, I tried. Next year, for sure!“.
How to set good New Year resolutions and stick to them
The single most important advice would be to make your resolutions using the SMART format. I talk about SMART goals in-depth here where I go on a nerd rant and go through examples of how to make a vague New Year resolution become a SMART one. But to recap; SMART stands for:
S - specific
M - measurable
A - attainable/achievable
R - relevant
T - time-bound.
Here are some general tips for making good New Year resolutions that you’ll actually keep.
Set only a few New Year resolutions. Three is a good number to start with. The less goals you have, the more attention you can give to each one.
Write down your New Year resolutions somewhere that’s easily accessible so you can review and see if you are on-track.
Avoid setting “cold turkey“ goals, since they are most likely to fail. For example, “I’m never going to touch another cigarette/alcohol/etc again”. Former US president Dwight Eisenhower did this to curb his smoking addiction. Although he was successful, most of us don’t have the hardcore willpower that Eisenhower had to go “cold turkey” (I wish I had that kind of willpower). Instead, focus on making small habits to gradually cut down on destructive habits which will eventually lead to eliminating the bad habit. For example, if you are addicted to smoking, make a goal to cut down the number of cigarettes you smoke by 1 every week, instead of going “cold turkey”.
Focus on building systems and habits to help achieve your resolutions.
Even if you find yourself slipping up with your resolutions, don’t be too hard on yourself and cut yourself some slack. Give yourself a mulligan and try again. Even if you don’t meet your SMART goal of losing 20kg but you lose only 10kg, give yourself a pat on the back since you’re more healthy, you learnt important skills and you learnt more about yourself. That’s nothing to be ashamed of.
