Being

Here is the start of a journey into mindfulness, awe, and enlightenment. Blend academic insights with practical life coaching to cultivate presence, wonder, and personal growth. Illuminate your path to a more conscious, fulfilled life. Location: Houston, Texas, 77043, US

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New Year’s Resolutions: Why They Fail and How to Succeed

Let me tell you what you want to know about New Year’s resolutions.

Ali Alzahrani, Ph.D
Being
Published in
8 min readDec 31, 2024

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Photo by Andy Kennedy on Unsplash

Most New Year’s resolutions fail. Research confirms that only around 8% of people actually succeed with their resolutions by the end of the year (Norcross, Mrykalo, & Blagys, 2002). The rest of us, including me, often just get back into our old routines. It’s like we wanted to try something new, but we did not like it. I hate setting a goal or assigning a task for myself and then failing to accomplish it, and I am sure you do too.

But why do New Year’s resolutions fail? How can we avoid that trap of failure and the disappointment that follows?

I have always found this topic interesting because I used to think that strong willpower was all we needed. However, research suggests that only a small group of people actually stick to their resolutions by the end of the year. After thinking about it and reading plenty of studies, I now believe that the problem is not only with setting big goals but also with failing to maintain our new habits. The following points are what I found in why we fail and how to make all or lets say most of our new year’s resolutions succeed:

1. Starting Something New Is

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Being
Being

Published in Being

Here is the start of a journey into mindfulness, awe, and enlightenment. Blend academic insights with practical life coaching to cultivate presence, wonder, and personal growth. Illuminate your path to a more conscious, fulfilled life. Location: Houston, Texas, 77043, US

Ali Alzahrani, Ph.D
Ali Alzahrani, Ph.D

Written by Ali Alzahrani, Ph.D

Founder of Being Publication https://medium.com/being, write about life philosophies, cinema, health, academia, and culture. Inquiries: aliwritesaz@gmail.com

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