Why Do New Year’s Resolutions Fail?

The new year sparks fireworks as well as an environment of change. Many people believe it’s a chance at a clean slate, a chance for renewal, a chance to change. Hence, they make resolutions, promising everything from being kinder to others to starting a fitness regimen. 

However, there is an inherent problem with new year’s resolutions. Many people find it hard to follow through or to get back on track with their New Year’s fitness resolutions… In fact, around 80% drop their resolutions by the second week of February! 

So, what’s stopping people from pushing through with their new goals? Have you also been guilty of dropping old New Year’s resolutions? Read on to check and see if you can relate to these reasons. Plus, we have tips on how you can avoid falling into the hype of New Year promises. 

You Don’t Commit To Your Goals 

For one, committing to change should not be a matter of timing. It’s a matter of, well, commitment. You can wait till January or start when you say you want to begin. However, if you haven’t gathered the proper reason and enough determination, then your resolve will likely go bust. 

A 2019 article in Psychology Today, which examines the logic of new year’s resolutions, even explains that successful change depends on readiness, not a calendar date. Nothing is wrong with making promises during the new year. However, you have to do more than say it out loud as the clock strikes midnight in January if you want to create a lasting impact. Commitment is key. 

Some would also make contracts and write their resolutions down to make the commitment more solid. And they post it in a place where they can be reminded often, like their bathroom mirror or their bedroom drawer. This constant reinforcement can help to make your resolutions less likely to fail.

You’re Doing It for the Wrong Reasons

If you’ve come up with a resolution simply because it’s vogue to do it in the new year, then you probably won’t last long. Again, your level of readiness and dedication cannot be dictated by time ­– unless, of course, you’ve been preparing yourself mentally and emotionally several months prior and just chose the first of January to start. 

A Scranton University study learned that only 19% of people keep their resolutions past mid-January. The explanation revealed that the failed resolutions shouldn’t have started in January. Base your timeline ­– and we can’t emphasize this enough – on readiness and not tradition.

Before coming up with a resolution any time of the year, you must first ask yourself why. For what is this change? How will this change affect your current life? Will it trigger some improvement, or will things generally stay the same? Say, for example, you plan to lose weight. Is this an advocacy of self-love, or do you just want to look good in your skinny jeans? 

You Put Too Much Pressure on Yourself

Another problem that may crop up with giving yourself a rigid start date is that you’re pressuring yourself to start when you’re fully not willing. There’s a difference between giving yourself a well-planned start date and starting on a day that someone else has set. The former is when you know that every aspect of your being is prepared to leap into change. 

Fulfilling a goal towards fitness isn’t just a matter of you wanting to shed pounds. It should be a lifelong commitment if you want to make it past a few months. Promising to be healthier takes a lot of mental motivation. Your mind has to want to soldier through even when you’re tired from work, or you just need to eat those crisps. 

That said, the novelty of following through on a New Year’s resolution might also cause you to go on hyperdrive at the beginning. You think about all the failed resolutions of the past, then hit the gas in the hopes of finally conquering this one. It could lead to burnout, which may cut your transformation short.

Remember the cost-benefit analysis we spoke about earlier? Your resolution should be motivated by something long-term, ideally permanent, that could make you and your life better. Anything short-term will likely be, well, short and hardly worth the effort. 

You’re Not Specific Enough

It’s never enough to say, “I want to be healthier for the next year.” There are so many ways to go about this, after all. What do you mean by healthier? Do you mean you’re going to skip the junk food or just add more vegetables to your plate? Or both? Do you mean you’re going to buy a treadmill or take up a sport? Without a solid direction for how you want to achieve your goals, you could end up getting lost.

Come up with a general aim, such as becoming healthier. Then, to make it less intimidating and much more manageable by breaking it down into smaller goals or steps. Returning to the example of wanting to become healthier, you start by adding a daily walk into your routine. 

Once your body has gotten used to the movement, you can perhaps add to this. By this month, perhaps you can consider revising your diet as well. You need concrete measures to follow and make you more accountable. They will also serve as your success indicators. Knowing that you’re doing well and on the right path will only motivate you to go further. 

You Lack The Support of Peers or a Community

If you work on your resolutions by yourself without telling anyone, it would be more difficult for you to achieve your goal. For sure, most of our friends and family will be supportive about our decision to change our life for the better. They would remember to stock up the cupboard with healthy food instead of sinful treats. They may even join you for your daily walks. 

So when you keep your resolutions to yourself, you deprive yourself of the support you badly need to keep pushing through. Sharing your resolutions means you’re much less likely to fail.

You Don’t Have Enough Guidance 

Honestly, coming up with a self-improvement plan can’t be done at the drop of a hat ­– which is another reason many new year’s resolutions fail. More often than not, you just come up with something that sounds good to say half-heartedly come January.  

Sometimes, you just need a helping hand to guide you in pushing through with your goal, not just physically but also mentally. You can do some research to help you develop a feasible plan for your lifestyle. You can also enlist the aid of a trainer or a nutritionist or a wellness coach. Or, you can hit all these birds with one stone. 

BodySlims’ programme gives you control over your health. It neither minces words nor cuts corners regarding fitness and health. It helps you understand the mechanism of your body and prepares you psychologically for this long, comprehensive journey. You also get daily motivational quotes and talks to keep you perked up and on track.

BodySlims also does you one better by offering a social hand to your goals as well. It has an active and helpful community of like-minded individuals who share your purpose. You can read or offer tips or just lend a listening ear. Though the programme lasts only 10 weeks, it sets you up on a permanent path to a holistic lifestyle. 

New year or not, you’re going to end up a better person and finally make good on your goals. 

What Is The Secret to Success? 

When asked, everyone will surely say they want to be fit, healthy, and in shape for the New Year. However, wanting it is different from working hard for it. Wanting it and having motivation is a good start but it’s not enough. 

You need a strategy and a well laid out plan on how you’re going to do it. There are many fitness programmes available out there and not all strategies are built the same. 

At BodySlims, when we developed our online strategy, we have based it on the success stories of our customers. With tens of thousands of customers all over the world having used our online system, we’ve been able to monitor all the daily behaviours and interactions and see exactly what the most successful ones are doing every day. 

But we didn’t stop there. We have tweaked and changed our programme based on this feedback to create a really amazing set of guidelines for people to get where they want to go.

To put it simply, we have learned from what people did wrong to allow you not to make the same mistakes. This means you can get on the right track and have a bigger chance of fulfilling your New Year’s health & fitness resolutions – not by trial and error but by employing the BodySlims blueprint for success!