Written by: Isabelle Jones | Lifestyle Editor
As we come into 2025, many people are looking forward to their yearly tradition of setting New Year’s resolutions — a way to promise to make change for the better. But why are we always trying to make ourselves better? Why do we put so much pressure on ourselves to change when the new year comes by?
New Year’s resolutions are an annual global celebration of personal reflection and the need for improvement. Although the resolutions set in January are well-intentioned, many struggle to continue to reach their goals after a month. According to Idaho State University psychology professor Alison Phillips, “Around 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail by the second week of February.” This astronomical statistic leads me to wonder why so many people fail their resolutions. Why do our goals of self-improvement have such a high failure rate and how can we create lasting change for the betterment of our lives? Before we look into how to create lasting resolutions, we need to dissect the reason for their failures. Here’s four reasons why New Year’s resolutions often fail.
1. The resolution is too big and too vague
Let’s take the most popular resolution, “I want to save more money.” It’s a great goal — everyone wants to save money —but we have to ask ourselves a series of questions. Are we decreasing our spending? How much money do we want to save? When a resolution is too big and vague, many people can feel unsure about where to start. Jennifer Kowalski, a licensed professional counselor at ThriveWorks, weighs in on resolutions: “When we set big overwhelming New Year’s resolutions, we also set up the expectation that we’re going to turn over an entirely new leaf on January 1st.” This can make many feel overwhelmed when our goal forces us to hit the ground running.
2. Expecting immediate results
Change is hard. It’s even harder when we expect our goals to be accomplished easily. Our results are our accomplishments. It’s hard to want to continue working towards a goal when we are not seeing the results we are expecting, but we should remind ourselves that our actions and inactions have a profound effect on how much closer we are to getting to our goal.
3. Having too many goals
Sometimes life gets the best of us. Having to juggle multiple goals on top of our daily responsibilities can make us feel as if we’re being pulled into too many different directions. Having too many goals will not allow us to give 100% of our effort and attention. The optimal number a person should make is one, but it should also be no more than three. The number of goals does depend on their scope.
4. Not being ready to change
Sometimes one is just not ready and that’s okay. There’s no unspoken rule stating that it’s necessary to make a New Year’s resolution every year. In order to make lasting changes, we need to have the drive that encourages us to continue working towards our resolution, even when we don’t want to.
This doesn’t mean that every New Year’s resolution will fail, but it can help anyone who wants to understand the ‘why’ behind their abandonment.
Consider these three helpful hints for holding on to a resolution throughout the year.
1. Grab a buddy
Grabbing a friend and working towards completing a goal together makes the journey easier. They can encourage each other when things get tough and hold each other accountable until the dreadful feelings toward change shift to enjoyment of the journey.
2. Use a tracker app
Technology should be used to our advantage, since most of us keep our phones on wherever we go. Keeping a habit tracking app can help a person continue their journey of self-improvement. A habit tracker can be set up to send consistent reminders to stay on track and celebrate mini-milestones. It can also share progress among others who have similar goals.
3. Keep a positive attitude
Many times when goals are taking longer to achieve than usual, we go into a negative cycle mindset. We compare ourselves to the accomplishments of the past and shrink when we don’t live up to our expectations. By keeping a positive mindset, we highlight the actions we’ve taken along our journey while also acknowledging how we don’t have to guilt ourselves into success. Reminding ourselves that each small success keeps the ball rolling will in turn boost confidence and morale.
New Year’s resolutions are more than just personal promises. They are opportunities to grow and challenge ourselves to change for the better. Reflection and growth can help us to create a fulfilling year that is aligned with our goals in life. Remember to stay patient, focused and most importantly we need to be kind to ourselves as we work to achieve our goals. Good luck, “Wolves.”
Contact the author at howllifestyle@wou.edu
