Keeping your New Year’s resolutions going all year long can be summed up by setting intentions vs. making resolutions. So let’s talk about why one is better, how to keep from giving up, and why it’s not too late!
How Did the Practice of Setting New Year’s Resolutions Get Started Anyway?
Historians have been able to date back 4,000 years to the Ancient Babylonians as the first people known to have declared resolutions, or promises (to the gods), for the new year. This practice coincided with when they planted their crops, hoping for favor from the gods. That time of year was when we know now as mid-March. As such, their new year began then. It wasn’t until Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar in 46 BC that January 1st became acknowledged as the first day of a new year. January is named to honor the Roman god Janus, the god with two faces looking back and looking forward.
Janus was revered as the god of beginnings, endings, transitions, and time, and represented the passage of one year to the next. Is it any wonder the Julian calendar honored him that way? He is regarded as representing the hope for future growth and change. Similar to the Babylonians, the Romans also made promises and offerings to Janus at the beginning of their new year. By the 1500s however, enough issues within the Julian calendar’s timing led to the introduction of the Gregorian calendar. The Gregorian calendar is the calendar most of us are familiar with and use today, also celebrating January 1 as the start of the year.
Making New Year’s Resolutions Grows in Popularity
Declaring New Year’s resolutions was becoming a more common practice by the 1600s, and continues to this day. Nowadays though, more often than not, New Year’s resolutions tend to be more self-improvement oriented than religion-focused.
People make New Year’s resolutions of all sorts:
- to save more money
- to eat better
- to lose weight
- to go to bed earlier
- to stop smoking
- to spend less time on social media and the list goes on….
But according to studies available in 2024, 88% of New Year’s resolution makers will break or give up those resolutions within the first two weeks. Because of this trend, the second Friday in January is commonly referred to as “Quitter’s Day,” a term coined by Strava. Additionally, research has shown that only 9% of resolution makers keep them going all year long. So why is it so hard to keep our New Year’s resolutions going all year? How can we keep ourselves from giving up and quitting?
Why is Keeping Our Resolutions so Hard?
There are many answers for why resolutions are not only broken and given up on, but also why they are cast aside so quickly. Some of the biggest reasons are outlined below:
*Too Broad/Too Big
*Lack of or Weak Motivation
*No Accountability/”Going it Alone”
*Negative Connotation
*Expecting Too Much Too Soon
*Comparison to Others
So How do These Factors Interfere with Seeing Our Resolutions Through to Success?
We often make resolutions as one-dimensional statements to achieve, or fail. A resolution that is too big or too broad may fail for lack of details; that is, it may be too vague. Likewise, resolutions may be unrealistic; we’re expecting too much, too soon. As such, we may be setting ourselves up for failure right from the start.
Additionally, we need to look at our underlying motivation for fulfilling the resolution. If the reason behind your resolution is not very strong, chances are it’s not going to motivate you for long. Lack of motivation often coincides with a lack of accountability. Without accountability we can more easily become distracted and forget or dismiss the resolution as unimportant.
Furthermore, if we look at a resolution through a negative lens, as in what we don’t get to do or we can’t have or we have to sacrifice, that negative perspective can dampen any excitement for realizing that resolution. Lastly, sometimes we are too quick to compare ourselves to others, and if we aren’t happy with our progress, we become impatient and discouraged. As a result, we give up.
Setting Intentions for Greater Success
The key to the success of your New Year’s plans lies in setting intentions rather than resolutions. So, what does that mean and how do you do that?
Plan for Action
While resolutions are often viewed as targets to either hit or miss, an intention is more a declaration of a plan of action that you intend to follow to an outcome that has value and meaning to you. That outcome has a purpose for your future self, a purpose that also reflects the value of your intention. Shaping a resolution as an intention that you can actually attain requires forethought, planning, and often a deep-dive into our underlying motivation.
When we consider resolutions only at face value, we overlook the how, where, when, and why. Goals phrased as intentions instead are more likely to be successful because they are broken down into smaller, meaningful, more specific steps with a timeline for tracking progress. Specific, measurable, actionable steps taken intentionally to attain an outcome we value set us up for continual progress and motivation. Success breeds motivation, breeds success, and so on.
Why?
Additionally, our initial motivation will only be as strong as the value we place on the anticipated outcome. Sometimes we need to dig a little deeper to uncover what we really mean to achieve. Evaluating the “Why” behind your intention can strengthen your motivation; what makes this something you intend to do or not do, why is this important to you, what does this intention mean to you?
Moreover, accountability helps keep motivation fresh, foster productivity, and encourages thoughtful planning. Rather than try to “go it alone,” share your plan with someone. Tell someone your objective, invite a partner, a buddy, a group to join you, or at the very least to check in on you. Write down your intention and display it where you, and any accountability partners, will see it often. There’s strength in numbers! Just as importantly, check in with yourself: is this intention still important to you, are you being consistent with your action steps, are you progressing on schedule? Be flexible and willing to make adjustments to your plan when necessary, to keep moving forward.
Focus on the Positives
Realizing our true motivation underlying our intention also helps promote a positive perspective of our plan. When you consider what you will gain and can look forward to positively at each step, rather than what you “have to give up” or not do anymore, your intentions begin to feel more like rewards and self-love than punishments. Finally, avoid the temptation to measure your progress by someone else’s levels of success, exercise patience, and give yourself grace. Not only is comparison the thief of joy – it’s true! – but, as my grandmother used to say, Rome wasn’t built in a day, either. Your journey in this life is unlike anyone else’s. Celebrate your progress, week by week, step by step, day by day even. The more you look for the good, the more your brain will point it out to you, making it easier to keep going.
In Summary…
While there is no “one size fits all” formula for making your New Year’s resolutions come true, setting intentions instead using the key points summarized below can significantly improve your chances for success!
- Be more specific: Answer the how, where, when, why of your objective
- Break your target down into smaller, measurable steps
- Be realistic: Don’t expect immediate success, but DO expect progress
- Take deliberate, consistent action
- Evaluate your motivation: Why is this important to you, what value does the outcome hold for you? Dig deep into your feelings!
- Share your intention with an accountability partner & check in with yourself regularly
- Approach your intentions from a positive viewpoint
- Celebrate your progress: Don’t compare yourself to others, but DO give yourself grace & exercise patience
That all being said, nothing will come of your intentions if you don’t actually follow through on your action steps. There’s a good chance you’ve heard this quote from Maya Angelou before: “Nothing will work unless you do.” It is also important to remember that great things take time, and your aim should be progress over perfection. In my previous work with health & wellness clients, I reiterated these points to those partners regularly as reminders of the potential for achieving their desired results.
As human beings there is always something more we can learn, experience, or pursue to improve our lives. We can be constantly growing. In fact, one intention may lead to a second, then a third, and so on. It’s never too late, therefore, to get on the right track to accomplishing a goal that you value. No matter when you’re reading this – January 1, the beginning of summer, Quitter’s Day, mid-December, or any other time – you can set an intention now, and be on a path to success starting today!
