How To Actually Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions
HAPPY NEW YEAROnly 8% of resolutioners see the glory of goal completion [1]. This University of Scranton statistic suggests that a mind-numbing 92% of people that scream Happy New Year. And pledge “new year new me” will not turn over the new leaf they yearned for.
It’s hard to fathom that 92 out of every 100 American men and women don’t follow through on New Year’s resolutions.
Pardon me for the repetition—still processing.
I knew a sizable amount of us Jacks and Jills didn’t close our deals, but sheesh. We have to change that. I have to say we because I’m part of the 92%.
I started this annual piece 1 January 2023. That happened to be the year of the water rabbit.
(Unsure of the meaning behind that 😅.)
But I say that to say, every year is the year of “whatever you want it to be” because you’re the one playing the cards, you have the control. Part of that control is moving yourself in a forward direction.
In my younger days I felt having a New Year’s resolution was corny. I was too “cool” for that. Willingly rebelled in fact, but now?
I can’t think of an idea more relevant than choosing tangible changes or additions to one’s life that propels them. Self-improvement is always on the “cool” side of the ledger.
This article is about making you part of the successful 8%. It’s about doing New Year’s resolutions the right way. It’s about being on the cool side of the ledger.
How To Actually Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions
(Updated yearly)
It’s that time of the year. New Year’s resolutions time. Time to make your submissions.
What’s a good goal? What’s your aim? What’s something you can tweak or turnover that’ll sharpen you as a proverbial tool?
You may be having trouble coming up with an idea, so we’ll start with a baseline for common ground:
A New Year’s resolution is simply the identification of a goal you want to achieve, a new year goal.
Maybe an alteration of a less than favorable trait or behavior you commonly display. Could even be to continue an aspect of life that has been fruitful, the possibilities are without end.
You’re not limited to one either.
With that said I don’t suggest overwhelming yourself, focus on a few. Too many changes at once lowers the likelihood of compliance. It’s difficult enough to make one change (I’m still stuck on that stat).
New Year’s Resolution Ideas
If you’re drawing blanks on the idea side, I’ll lend a hand. I’ll share a few ideas you can pull from directly or use to ignite the brainstorming process.
A recent survey shows the most popular New Year’s resolutions revolve around saving money and being more active. I can see why with how the grocery bill continues to climb and how the leading cause of death is directly related to diet and exercise habits [3].
However, don’t concede to the pressure to go with what’s popular though. If it touches you in a special way? If it tugs on your passion vein or compels you to positive rapacity, then yes. Popular or not, it’s for you. It’ll bring forth a sort of self-worth.
Related note: Whether you have an affinity for it or not. If your health or life is in jeopardy contingent upon you getting your nutrition and training together. Do it anyway. Dependent on how you found this post I may not know you, but the chances are if you’re reading a blog about New Year’s resolutions, you’re probably the type of person we want around for a while. So do your part to raise your chances of being around for a while.
Now back to where we were.
Drawing on a sense of duty is what we’re after. Because whatever resolutions you commit to, you must tap into the “why”. You have to be able to locate what makes it important when you inevitably start to lose your way.
If you don’t, you’re doomed.. without motivation there’s no action. Or there won’t be any for long. The moment you hit a roadblock you’ll shut that engine right off.
Popular New Year’s Resolutions:
Less time on social media
Curse less
Go out more
Go out less
Drink less
Stop smoking
Cut out junk food
Travel
Go back to school
Learn a new language
Find a hobby
Save money
Exercise consistently
Get organized
Eat out less
Take a daily walk
Run a 5k
Do New Year’s Resolutions Work?
I empathize with any hesitation to utter a syllable about New Year’s resolutions with the stat I just learned. It’s actually worth a repeat, only 8% of people stick to their New Year goals [1]. Yes you read that correctly.
Daunting right? But if we were to broaden this.. people typically don’t achieve their goals at any point during a year. It’s just that when you open a new calendar more folks decide to set goals, so the statistic is on HGH.
But I say all of that to say.. so?
What do the others have to do with you? What does another underachieving have to do with you achieving?
You can be an anomaly.
Just because most don’t hit their mark doesn’t mean it blanketly applies to you.
Decide on having better aim than them. Being extraordinary means doing more than the ordinary.
Statistics in many cases are to be used as an indicator of how hard you should go, being that it may be harder to reach—not that it isn’t reachable.
5 Ways To Live Up tO New Year’s Resolutions
Now that we’re aware of how unlikely it is to stick to a New Year’s resolution; let’s shift focus to not becoming a statistic. Let’s put guardrails in place.
5 concrete ways to live up to your New Year’s resolutions:
Use The Goal As Motivation
Identify and harness your why.
What are you in it for? What’s your incentive? What drove you in this direction in the first place?
Keeping “why” within reach for easy access as a reminder can reinvigorate when you seem to lose your way. Always remember your why.
Here are some quotes to help too. Temporary motivation is better than no motivation -> 1100+ Inspirational Quotes.
Make A Plan
Fail to plan and you plan to fail.
What’s the blueprint for success? What steps shall you take on a daily and/or periodic basis to breed desired results? What is the contingency plan if and when you catch yourself slacking? How will you reliably refocus?
When you create a plan with specific objectives that propel you towards a particular endgame, it not only helps you succeed.. you feel like you’re doing something along the way. Otherwise, it’s harder to gauge when you are or aren’t putting in appropriate work.
Plan to succeed.
Create A Timeline
Set a realistic timeline with reasonable benchmarks.
Your timeline is to be reality-based, one that’s achievable within the parameters. You won’t add 30 pounds of muscle in 1 month. Yet your timeline shouldn’t shortchange, don’t hold yourself back. You won’t need 3 years to read a novel ladies and gents.
Don’t give yourself room to procrastinate.
So when can you expect to see this resolution in action? How long until results are noticeable? What is it you’re supposed to notice? What are the indicators of success or lack of? What are realizable deadlines to meet? What frequency are you to marry yourself to?
Being able to map out small wins as they contribute to the big win is extra incentive.
Evaluate Your Performance
Reflect on it all Jacks and Jills.
How’d you fair following the blueprint this past week, month, or quarter? Is the blueprint proving to be the right one? Should you make tweaks? What part was helpful? What part left you helpless?
Evaluation is a must. How else can you determine what to continue and what to discontinue? Make a move, reflect, make a move, reflect.. eventually you’ll work all the kinks out and become a well-oiled, efficient machine. Geared for success.
Reflectiiiiion (that was in falsetto by the way).
Okay You Messed Up, So?
Don’t succumb to blunders.
Mistakes are part of regularly scheduled programming. Get back on that horse, giddy-up. Anticipate mishaps.
If they don’t happen? Outstanding, but it’s an expectation. Most people fall short on resolutions not because they never start or never find a groove. It’s because once they lose rhythm, they don’t resolve themselves to get back on beat.
If you decide your resolutions will happen rain, sleet, snow, or big ol’ ice cubes.. you’ll continue to jump back on course and miscues will occur less and less. The error frequency will perpetually decrease. As with anything you do repetitively.
Keep going.
That third week is always make or break 😆.
My New Year’s Resolutions
2026 New Year’s Resolutions
2026 is around the corner. It’s always an exciting time, a new year.
2025 came with trials, but honestly what year doesn’t come with trials? It’s baked into the life cycle. But more importantly 2026 had triumphs. But also, what year doesn’t?
All about outlook.
To recap my 2025 resolutions. I give myself a B. No plus or minus, a solid B.
✅ Went on a family trip.
❌ Didn’t cut out the 16 hour work days, but I did make more family time. A lot more ✅.
🆗 Did a decent writing job, but came up short as I locked in on reworking remote features to better serve my VIP coaching clients.
✅ I forced myself to be in the moment when it was time to be in the moment.
A solid B.
For 2026:
I’m raising the bar to 2+ family trips.
Rolling out new avenues to help spread the muscle and mentality mission.
Cutting down on those 16 hour work days.
And expanding my team.
2026 will be a big year. There’s no other option.
Let’s get it.
2025 New Year’s Resolutions
For the year 2025 my resolutions are for one, to blog seriously.
Same as 2023. I thoroughly enjoy writing, but I always manage to put it on the backburner. Not this year.
Secondly is to go on at least one family trip. My daughter is in the 9th grade now, I want to create more memories before she calls herself going off to college in a few years. Hard to believe how quickly the time goes.
Thirdly is better time management. I still find myself working 16-hour days 7 days per week and that doesn’t bode well for some of my non-business-related goals.
And my fourth resolution for 2025 is to be present. Even when I’m not working, I’m often not in the moment. I’m thinking about the work I could be doing or ideas I’ll implement later. I’ll be in the moment more this year and going forward. This is not a want, this will happen.
2024 New Year’s Resolutions
For 2024 my resolutions weren’t even set 😆. I didn’t even update this column as scheduled.
But to recap on a positive note.. my daughter started high school, I expanded my online fitness coaching, and set the groundwork for a steady blog year in 2025. The year 2024 also made my family even closer.
All tribulations are worthy for that.
2023 New Year’s Resolutions
2023 ended with an unfortunate bang, but survival by any means. I failed both resolutions 😆.
Word for word, my 2023 resolutions went as follows:
More family time. More writing.
To make it specific, at least 2 days per week I’ll finish work by 6 pm.
On the writing front, at least 12 blogs up this year. That’s a monthly average, so if I miss a month, I have to make it up. In the past I blogged daily, then it dropped to weekly, then I missed a whole year 🤦🏾♂️.
Business became a little hectic, but I’m back and those are my specific resolutions.
My Thoughts
Applying self-pressure helps, you may want to try it. If I need to light a “get moving” fire I’ll put what I want to do out in the world somehow. I don’t like saying I’ll do something and not do it, so if I add that social pressure of wanting to be a man of my word it helps my motive. But if that doesn’t work for you it’s okay to keep your goals private and personal.
Can’t express enough how beneficial specifics are. Good New Year’s resolutions go into detail. Too vague of a resolution makes it tougher to adhere to and gives you a less detailed map to follow. IE “be happy”; that’s not a resolution, but “write something positive that happens each day” is a more specific way to assist in you heading in the happy direction.
Resolutions I recommend considering: carve out family time, something career-related, better sleep habits, solid exercise frequency, decent eating habits, try a physical challenge, read 3 books, less social media time, get outdoors regularly, start a hobby, thinking before responding if you tend to act impulsively, looking deeper than headlines before forming an opinion, racking your weights, and of course to work on improving self-confidence.
Alright New Year’s Resolutions, It’s About That Time
Good on you making it this far in the article, says plenty about your ambition. When you put forth effort to progress, you’re taking control of your life.
That’s what a resolution is all about. Getting better. Inching forward. Controlling your destiny.
Improvement doesn’t always show itself in the form you’d like, but when there’s effort—I’m confident in saying you’ll be pleased with the outcome more often than not. The only way to truly fail is to stop trying.
Pick your resolutions, get to work, get to work some more, and choose to have a Happy New Year. Let’s make 2026 count.
Sources:
[2] https://www.statista.com/chart/amp/29019/most-common-new-years-resolutions-us/