We’ve officially made it a third through January. How are those New Year’s resolutions going? Some people have already given up, while others are still working towards their goals. There are numerous reasons why people abandon their resolutions, and a new survey of 2,000 adults examines the most common reasons people fail.
- 40% of respondents set a resolution for 2026.
- Top reasons for setting a New Year's resolution are self-improvement (55%), wanting a fresh start (51%), and enjoying the challenge (46%).
- More than half (52%) of respondents believe New Year’s resolutions are an effective way to reach goals.
- 2/3 claim to be “all in” on achieving their goals, meanwhile 26% are not fully committed.
- 46% don’t expect their goal to last longer than two months. 8% said they wouldn’t make it through the first week. 17% typically manage to stick to their resolution for an entire year.
- 44% successfully made at least one resolution a permanent part of their routine.
But most New Year’s resolutions fail, and these are the most common reasons for not sticking to the goals we make:
- Not feeling motivated
- Giving in to temptation
- Finding it too difficult
- Not seeing results quickly enough
- Not fitting with their routine
- Forgetting they were doing it
- Finding it too boring
- Realizing they don’t want to do it
- Finding it too tiring
- Feeling too unhappy/fed-up
Source: Talking Points