Why Your New Year Resolutions Fail

I have been on a knowledge quest to understand why people experience a surge of motivation and momentum at the start of the new year, only for it to dwindle - sometimes even before the first month is over.

I have experienced this myself: starting the year strong, with so much faith and conviction in the things I want to achieve, only for life to happen in different dimensions and all that conviction disappears like it was never there.

Why?

J.C. Norcross and D.J. Vangarelli in their 1988 research on New Year resolutions found that only approximately 77% of participants had maintained their resolutions one week into the start of the new year. This percentage decreased to 55% after one month, 43% after three months, 40% after six months, and ultimately 19% at the two-year follow-up.

This insight is mind-blowing because it means that approximately 1 in 2 of you reading this post have already abandoned your New Year resolutions. Wow!

Again, I ask, why?

There are several reasons for dwindling momentum, but I want to focus on two specific ones: Poor Goal Setting and Failing to count the cost.

Poor Goal Setting

Some of us have goals that read like this: "This year I will gain my financial freedom”, “This year I will lose my excess weight”, and “This year I will Japa too”.

Brian Tracy describes these as wishful thinking and fantasy at best, not goals, simply because they lack the distinct characteristics of a goal.

Your goals should be clear, written, specific, easily understood and describable to others, measurable and must have a deadline a.k.a SMART Goals.

Also, some of us set big goals that are unachievable in the period we are considering, such that it leaves us feeling disempowered and demotivated from the start.

For example, having a goal to lose 30 kg in one month is not only unrealistic and unachievable, but also medically inadvisable.

This is not to say we shouldn't set big goals. The principle here is to dream big but start small.

Failing to Count the Cost

You might be reading this and thinking: 'I set SMART goals, yet I still lose momentum.'

Setting SMART goals is just one part of the job, the other part is to count the cost. There’s always a price to pay for every goal you want to achieve. The question is: Do you know the price to pay for the goals you have set and are you willing to pay this price?

Let me share an example:

If your goal at the start of the year is "To save $2,400 for an emergency fund in the next 6 months by setting aside $400 each month." This is a SMART Goal!

However, to follow through with this goal, you have to identify all the obstacles that stand in your way.

To mention a few:

♦️ Impulse buying

♦️ Unexpected and unavoidable expenses

♦️ Lack of discipline. You have never saved $1 before!

Now that you have identified the obstacles, how do you overcome them?

For impulse buying, here are some practical solutions:

♦️ Set up an account that can’t be easily accessed so that it is more difficult to take out the money on impulse.

♦️ Automate savings through direct debit as soon as salary is paid. You must give no room to spending temptations.

♦️ Within your budget, leave some room for shopping, self-care or whatever makes you happy so that you don’t feel stifled.

The Missing Link

Based on my mini-research, I am convinced that failing to count the cost of achieving our goals is the missing link.

I believe that the 77% who give up within one week are those who didn’t set SMART goals at the start of the year. They were so vague that they had no blueprint to run with, so their fire went out very quickly.

Those who managed to stick with their goals for more than a week likely set SMART goals, but they didn't count the cost of achieving them. When challenges arose, they lacked a strategy, and eventually, they lost momentum.

In maintaining momentum, I am not suggesting that there won't be any lapses. In fact, according to the research, 53% of successful participants experienced at least one lapse during the period under study, with an average of 14 slips.

However, they bounced back and were able to finish strong! They had SMART Goals, they counted the cost, and they were committed to paying the price even if they fell off a couple of times.

It's about progress, not perfection!

Conclusion

I am super committed to seeing my goals through this year. It is no longer business as usual, which is why I went on a knowledge quest to find answers to this common problem.

Being able to connect the dots is quite empowering, and I hope you feel the same way too.

Now, let's go do big things in 2025 and finish the year strong!

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