Why Most New Year's Resolutions Fail

The New Year always brings optimism, positivity, and opportunity. Everywhere you turn, you hear someone saying, “New year, new me!” Maybe each year you’re inspired to buy a new planner and pen, and start plotting your own goals, including getting a new career. That’s all fine and good, but how do you even know if you’ll like that new career you’ve been idolizing and day-dreaming about? 9 times out of 10, you have no proof it’s even the right fit beyond reading what a couple of online articles say.

You may end up pursuing that new career, let's say, as a consultant, and find out 3 months down the line, you absolutely hate it. Then you end up abandoning your New Year's resolution and repeating the process by doing the same thing all over again (i.e., commit -> realize it’s not what you thought -> quit).

But we can avoid all of this by adopting a different approach that leverages a more strategic planning angle: build goals based on evidence and experiments, not wishful thinking. Once we find out what works, we commit to it and do our celebratory dance. Or treat ourselves to a glass of wine (whichever comes first).

But before we get into all of that, let’s talk more about how and why New Year's resolutions fail and what we can do to set better goals for ourselves.

What the Facts Say

Based on the Pew Research Center’s data, folks are all over the place when it comes to resolutions.

In 2024 (latest stats available):

• 3 in 10 Americans made a resolution.

• 62% of those making resolutions feel pressured to do so.

• 79% of New Year’s goals involve improving health.

• Only 6% of adults will make resolutions to travel more.

Diving deeper, adults aged 18 to 29 make up the largest group to have made at least one resolution, at 49%. But of those ages 30 to 49 (your mid-career group), 31% made a resolution, and just 21% of those 50 and above committed to a resolution.

​Overall, 79% say their resolutions concern health. Smaller but still sizable shares made resolutions about money or finances (61%), personal relationships (57%), hobbies or personal interests (55%), or work and career (49%).

But get this: Of the 70% of Americans who did not make any New Year’s resolutions this year, a majority (56%) say their main reason for not doing so is that they do not like to make resolutions.

And we can presume that most people don’t like setting them because they don’t reach them! Think about it: There are millions of goal-setting theories and systems (SMART, OKRs, GROW, etc) out there, but they don’t take into account people’s individual needs on a deeper level.  

We don’t approach it the right way from the start.

The problem doesn’t lie in setting resolutions - we’re just setting the wrong kind.

The Problem: We Set the Wrong Kind of Resolutions

Most New Year's goals are typically structured as outcome goals rather than process goals.  Let’s look at these three specific outcome goals examples, for instance, that people may try to set for the upcoming year:

• I want to get promoted to VP.

• I want to make 150K next year.

• I want to land 10 clients for my business.

You might look at these and say to yourself, “Okay, those sound fairly reasonable.” But the truth is, you can’t control the outcome of a VP promotion. You can position yourself as best as you can within your organization, and do all the “right things,” but ultimately it’s up to your boss.

That 150K you were aiming for? That’s dependent on the economy and overall market (just like snagging 10 clients). And when you make these resolutions and don’t reach them, you quit. Not just the new year, but for the foreseeable future.

That’s why you have to shift your approach to setting process goals, where you have more control and can take action regardless of the outcome. You want to set yourself up for success where these resolutions feel tangible as the process eventually creates the outcome.

What to Do Instead

Goals that really, really stick are based on three central tenets: they’re tested (not assumed), process-based (not outcome-based), and take barriers into account. These areas are a part of the special recipe for resolution-setting you need to adopt. Take the first tenet, for example, testing - you need feedback and checkpoints, and validating as you go to know if what you’re pursuing is an excellent fit for you.

For your process-based goals or resolutions, it’s all about what you can control, and at this point, you want to measure your effort (not results). For instance, if your goal is to get that dream job, the goal isn’t “Get a new job by March 2026,” it’s really: Spend 3 hours/week (Sunday mornings) on job search activities. Track progress weekly and adjust approach based on results.

Why? It’s quantifiable (we can track it numerically), and we course-correct based on our outcomes. When we come across barriers (time, energy, or resources), we need to maintain a realistic attitude, as obstacles are a part of life. How we deal with them is entirely up to us. When you set your goals, they need to fit your ACTUAL life, such as the one with kids, a demanding job, and limited energy. Design around your barriers, not despite them.

Conclusion

New Year's resolutions fail because we commit before we validate, set vague intentions instead of concrete actions, and ignore the barriers standing in our way. Traditional goal-setting ignores these elements and, as a result, sabotages our success before we even start.

But this year doesn't have to be like the others. Instead of another failed resolution, design a goal that actually works: specific, actionable, measurable, and built around your real life.

The year ahead is happening either way. Make it count.