By: Jennifer Bailey
The ball has dropped, and the countdown has ended. When a new calendar year begins, many Americans set resolutions to reinvent themselves. The popular phrase, “New Year, New Me,” assumes new beginnings and transformation; however, it subtly suggests that you were never good enough. Following through with resolutions is often the hardest part, according to driversearch.com, in 2024, 92% of adults didn’t follow through with their resolutions, with 23% giving up on their resolutions by the first week of January. If the goal is to become a “new me,” yet the odds of success are low, it’s easy to see why many feel disappointed.
Lauren Bell, a wife, mother of three and owner of Fortifyya, shares, “In my opinion, setting these resolutions doesn’t align with how we’re wired as humans. They are often set in moments of motivation and desiring a fresh start, but don’t account for our responsibilities, stress loads, and energy levels.”
Setting Realistic and Rejuvenating Resolutions
To set and follow through with your New Year’s resolution, start by focusing on intention. Instead of trying to change everything about yourself, consider adding one or two habits that bring joy and rejuvenation. Many resolutions fail because they are too broad; success comes from incorporating them as a natural part of your daily life. Here are some tips that help you make more effective resolutions.
Be S.M.A.R.T. About You Goals
When creating your resolutions, it is important to be S.M.A.R.T. S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym standing for Specific, Measurable, Realistic, and Timely.
- Specific: Specific means identifying what you would like to do differently or more of. Do you want to eat healthier foods, travel more, or read more books? This also includes the “How”. How will you accomplish this goal? The “How” are the steps you need to take to work towards your resolution.
- Measurable: Measurable means how you will measure the goal, what data or information is needed so that you know you are making gains.
- Realistic: Realistic is exactly as it sounds, making sure your resolution is realistic and attainable. If you are new to running, setting a goal of getting your mile time down or finishing a 5K is a realistic goal.
- Timely: Timely, meaning set a deadline or frequency. When do you want to have accomplished this goal? Being S.M.A.R.T. about our goals allows us to have a plan of action.
Small Actions, Stronger Habits
Most resolutions originate from wanting to make a lifestyle change, whether it’s becoming healthier, investing more in your relationships, or spending time doing hobbies you enjoy. Working towards these goals means incorporating the necessary actions so that they become a habit. Bell shares, “I have found that setting goals to align with who I want to become, versus just based on what I want to do, has helped. Then it’s about designing a rhythm that I can stick to. Then, solid habits form. Then the discipline improves. Then the goals are met. That January 1st date of starting something new holds no value to me now.”
Maria Godoy & Sylvie Douglis, with NPR, interviewed author BJ Fogg, a behaviorist and the founder and director of the Behavior Design Lab at Stanford University. Fogg suggests using the Tiny Method as a way to build long-term habits. It starts with choosing a very small step of the habit you want to form. Fogg shares, “In the case of wanting to read more, that might mean read one paragraph. In the case of meditating, it might be take three calming breaths.”
Next comes anchoring that tiny habit to something you already do; this would look like reading one paragraph during your subway commute to work. Lastly, as soon as you complete the habit, celebrate immediately. The celebration gives your brain the experience of tying the habit to a positive emotion, and when we feel positive about doing something, we want to do it more.
Get Creative With Your Resolutions
You can use creativity to help you in working towards your resolution. Using a helpful affirmation, a positive statement that helps support a mindset of self-trust and healthier inner narratives. For example, if you’re working on being physically healthy by trying to reach a step count goal, an affirmation could be
“I’m proud of every bit of movement I make today.” You could also turn your resolution into a visual, such as vision boards or Pinterest pages are examples of how you can do this. You could turn your resolution into a Bingo Board, creating specific categories that you would like to use, and each bingo square is the small step of how you work towards accomplishing that goal. Below are two downloadable 2026 Bingo Cards, one that you can fill in yourself and the other promotes self-care.
2026 Bingo Card template filled out.pdf
An anonymous reader shared with TCO “I normally do some self-reflection as the year comes to an end, and set personal goals for myself to work on. Having goals instead of New Year’s resolutions helps me avoid having an all-or-nothing mindset, and instead, I think of it as continual improvement. While goals vs. resolution might seem like just a word change, switching the language has helped me find progress in the small steps and not feel like I have failed because I didn’t follow a strict New Year’s resolution.”
In the end, self-improvement doesn’t need a specific time of year. Goals to better yourself and your life can happen year-round.
