A few weeks ago, I went to a workout class at my gym early one morning. The instructor noted that for the previous few weeks, the class was packed, yet today, the class had gone back to its normal size. She joked that the timing was about right: it’s usually about a couple weeks after new years day that resolutions go out the window and old habits return to normal.

January 1st has become synonymous with resolutions, fresh starts, “new year, new me” and general new goal excitement. Yet more often than not it seems, new years resolutions never seem to stick. Lofty goals are written down, the gym membership is paid, the pile of books are ordered, only to gather dust in the corner once the new year motivation wears off.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Whether it is a goal for the new years, a goal you would like to meet in therapy or a goal that you have had for yourself for years but have never been able to fully integrate into your life, there are real solutions that can allow you to meet these goals more easily. Below are six tips for how to do this tangibly:

Six Tips to Enter Into Your Resolutions

• Habit pairing

  Habit pairing is a strategy that helps you to build habits more efficiently by pairing a new habit with an already existing habit. For example, let’s say you want to get in the habit of reading more regularly. An example of habit pairing would be making a plan to read a chapter of a book right after brushing your teeth each night (an already existing routine). By pairing a desired habit with a pre-existing habit, it helps your brain to more concretely create habits, offering structure and creating the habit more organically. Research also suggests that habit pairing may improve adherence to tasks, especially when running low on motivation.

• Perfection is the enemy of progress

  Oftentimes, all-or-nothing thinking (a form of thinking that tricks you into believing that you need to do something all the way or you shouldn’t even bother) can come into goal-setting. This form of thinking can be detrimental to progress as it leads to burnout, extremist thinking and expectations that are hard to impossible to meet, causing discouragement quickly. For example, if you want to start reading more but haven’t read a full book in a long time, don’t start with a challenging, long, wordy classic novel. Instead, start with books that are short, fun or engaging or begin with a manageable goal (i.e.reading one chapter a week). Or if you want to start getting in the habit of meal prepping, don’t expect yourself to have to prep all your meals for the week at first. Start with something more bite sized (no pun instead), such as just meal prepping your breakfast for the week. Seeing small wins that are not as labor intensive in the beginning increases reward and therefore, increases the chances of a task actually being completed. Additionally, this research article suggests that all-or-nothing thinking can actually lead to more unhealthy relationships with food, as opposed to fostering a healthy relationship with food.

• Ask yourself not just “what could I do” but “what would I do?”

  Piggybacking off the previous point, it’s important to set goals that are not only helpful but realistic for you. Be sure to set yourself up for success by being honest with yourself, what you need and what you would realistically do. For example, if you want to start exercising more regularly but you hate mornings, do not schedule workouts in the morning. By doing so, you would technically be giving yourself two goals to achieve instead of one: waking up early and exercising. Instead, take a look at your schedule and examine factors such as when a realistically good time to go to the gym would be, taking into consideration factors such as days/times that you are less tired, days you are less busy, looking into alternative workouts other than a traditional gym setting, or considering commute options.

• Set goals with potential barriers and resources in mind

  It can make all the difference in goal-setting to prepare ahead of time by knowing what factors might keep you from your goals and utilize what resources are available to make your goals easier. For example, let’s say you want to learn how to cook more but you hate doing dishes, often leading you to avoid cooking and ordering takeout instead. Knowing that a large load of dishes may be a barrier to this goal, consider looking into one pot meal recipes, taking out that old crockpot (a resource) that has been gathering dust in your kitchen or looking into cooking classes in your area that can get you excited about cooking and learning quick clean up processes. By knowing what might go wrong, and examining your resources, you are increasing your preparedness and the likelihood of a goal sticking.

• Ask yourself “why?”

  Oftentimes, it can be easy in the new year to set arbitrary goals without fully asking yourself or examining why this is a goal in the first place. For example, if you want to reduce your social media use, what is the reason for that? Is it because you have heard everyone talk about reducing social media usage or do you have a clear understanding of how your life will be improved by reducing social media usage, such as an increased attention span, improved mental health, improved sleep and added time in the day for more valuable activities? By understanding your “why” you can be sure that when motivation wears off or is lacking, your reason for completing a goal can carry you through.

• Foster Gratitude

  Gratitude is powerful. Oftentimes, goals/new years resolutions are viewed as unpleasant tasks that have to be completed or obligations that have to be fulfilled. Especially in our society with constant access to instant gratification, new years resolutions or forming new goals is especially difficult. However, switching one’s mindset to a posture of gratitude for these things can make all the difference. For example, for most of human history, books didn’t exist or if they did, they were only owned by the wealthy/elites. To be able to buy a book on any subject at any time is a profound luxury of our modern world that is easily taken for granted. Additionally, although meal prepping can take time and energy to do, having food and a variety of food to experiment with is a huge gift that many do not have and for a large portion of human history, delicious food was much more rare than it is today. Considering your goals that are normally seen as burdens and instead, intentionally approaching them with a posture of gratitude might just be the mindset shift that makes all the difference. Additionally, research suggests that gratitude has a number of benefits, including improving sleep, increased exercise and lowered stress.

Final Thoughts

The hope is that all, or even one, of these suggestions can support you in whatever goals you want to achieve or lifestyle changes you would like to foster, so that you can feel empowered in 2026 to challenge yourself and care for yourself this year. If you are interested in reading more related articles, here are a few options from our blog related to topics discussed here:

1. Fearless Goals: Crafting Resolutions that Stick:
2. S.M.A.R.T Goals in Therapy
3. New Year, New You? Rethinking Goal Setting
4. Building a Habit of Gratitude