7 Simple Ways to Choose Resolutions You’ll Actually Keep This Year
Dec 29, 2025
January brings with it fresh energy and the desire to reinvent yourself. You lay out the goals for the next 12 months, write them down in a journal and start with the best intentions. But sometimes, even the most curated mood board can’t help you keep those motivations until February. Here’s how to set resolutions you can realistically stick to.
1. Choose One Area of Your Life
The surge of motivation to become the best version of yourself during the New Year is something many experience. However, studies suggest that around 80% of people abandon their resolutions within the first month.
“New Year, New You” often translates into trying to change everything at once. You want to eat better, stop doomscrolling, reduce your carbon footprint, save money, be more productive and travel more, all at the same time. In a perfect world, it might be doable, but in reality, it will just overwhelm you. When all these goals compete for your attention, none of them gets it for long.
It’s more realistic to choose just one area to focus on for the year, or even for the first few months. Therefore, create a list of priorities and rank them. Start by asking yourself what really matters to you right now and build a goal around that.
2. Understand Your Reason
Sometimes, you set a resolution without fully understanding why you want to achieve it in the first place. They are far easier to stick to when they have a real meaning behind them.
According to Statista, 48% of U.S. adults want to exercise more as part of their New Year’s resolutions. If that sounds like you, pause and look at the bigger picture. Why do you want to move more this year? Is it to feel stronger, improve your health, gain confidence or have more energy day to day?
Do this for other goals, too. Goals like “spending less time on social media” also need a reason. Seventy-four percent of people report experiencing mental health symptoms like anxiety or low mood due to excessive phone use. If that resonates with you, framing your goal as a digital detox to protect your mental well-being gives it a better purpose and makes it easier to commit to.
It’s also helpful to identify where the goal is coming from. Many resolutions come from trends and social media. You may be chasing the perfect body or wanting to master a new hobby because you see them everywhere online. Inspiration is not a bad thing, but when a goal is driven mainly by external pressure, it often fails to last. The resolutions that tend to stick are the ones that align with your own values and priorities.
3. Create a Clear Game Plan
After you pick a goal and understand why you want to achieve it, the next step is to create a game plan. It’s how you turn your good intentions for the year into something you can actually stick to.
Make your goal specific, actionable and measurable. For example, “be kinder to the planet” is an admirable goal, but it’s a vague idea you can’t track. It’s better to have a simple but actionable plan like “bring a reusable tumbler to work three times a week” or “cut down on takeout coffee to once a week.”
Travel goals benefit from having a structure, too. Instead of “travel more,” you could set a goal to “plan one out-of-town day trip a month” or “set aside 10% each payday for a trip to Bali by the end of the year.”
4. Start Small and Be Consistent
Even when you already have a game plan, it’s essential to start small. When your goal feels time-consuming, expensive or emotionally draining, it’s far easier to put off than to begin. Starting small also makes consistency possible.
If your goal is to feel more fulfilled by giving something back, you don’t have to commit to volunteering right away. A simple first step could be joining your company’s employee program, if one is available. Many workplaces allow staff to donate to causes such as health care or education. Some employers even offer matching programs, where they match your donation at a 1:1 rate or higher. It’s a low-effort way to contribute while letting your impact go further.
Another example is eating healthier. You don’t have to cut junk food from your life right away. Start by adding one healthy meal a day or swapping one sugary snack for something more nourishing. These small changes are easier to repeat and help you shape better habits over time.
5. Attach It to Something You Already Do
It takes from 18 to 200 days to build a habit, which is why so many resolutions struggle in the early months. They’re far easier to keep when they’re attached to routines that already exist. It’s called habit stacking, and it works because it removes the need for extra motivation.
Perhaps you'd like to read more for pleasure, but it’s challenging due to your busy life. Your train to work takes about 30 minutes, so you decide to replace your scrolling with reading a book for your commute. You don’t add anything new to your schedule but use time that already exists more intentionally.
6. Set a “Bare Minimum” Version of Your Resolution
Perfectionism is another reason resolutions fall apart. Around 92% of people experience perfectionist tendencies at some point in their lives, which can affect their motivation. If you miss a day, you feel like a failure, and quitting seems easier than restarting.
Your New Year’s resolution doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Leaving room for error makes it far easier to keep going. A great way to do this is to set a “bare minimum” version of your goal. Doing so can remove the pressure to be perfect and give you something you can still complete on busy or low-energy days. Here are some examples:
- Your resolution is to stretch regularly. The ideal version is a 20-minute routine, but the bare minimum version is stretching for five minutes before bed.
- You want to be more creative. The ideal version might be writing or drawing for an hour, while the bare minimum could be jotting down a few ideas or spending 10 minutes doodling.
7. Review, Don’t Quit
You can always adjust your resolutions if they stop working. When creating yours for the New Year, set a simple check-in point. You can review them every 13 weeks or once a quarter to make them more manageable and easier to sustain. This gives you space to reflect on what is working, what is not and what needs adjusting.
Keep It Small and Let It Grow
Your New Year’s resolutions are more likely to stick all the way through the year if you choose and plan well. It doesn’t need to be dramatic or life-changing. It simply needs to be attainable enough to repeat consistently. Small actions build momentum over time, especially when you allow yourself to notice progress along the way.