Whether it’s reducing phone usage, maintaining a consistent sleep schedule or committing to stop chronic procrastination, New Year’s resolutions are a “fresh start” at the beginning of each year — motivating us to consider and change in ways that make our lives better. According to a Pew Research Center study, nearly half of adults between the ages of 19 to 28 say they made “one resolution” for the start of 2025 — this cohort is by far the largest age group to participate in the yearly ritual.
However, studies show that only 25% of people actually stay committed to their resolutions after 30 days and less than 10% accomplish their goals. While resolutions may be easy to maintain in January, people often fall trap to obstacles, including setting unrealistic goals, lacking a system of accountability and the prospect of failure — making it difficult to follow through on these yearly goals. Change is hard, but not impossible, and following through on your 2025 New Year’s resolutions can create lasting change.
First, set small and specific goals with realistic timelines. Let’s be honest, you aren’t going to become fluent in Spanish by April and you aren’t going to workout seven days a week at the gym. I’ve fallen victim to the “sweeping change” phenomenon where you set drastic goals with impossibly short deadlines. One year, for example, I decided that I wanted to go vegan to eat more healthily. Researching vegan recipes online and spending hours in the kitchen, my goal was quickly squashed when I realized I couldn’t have Noah’s Bagels with cream cheese every morning.
This isn’t to say that going vegan, learning a new language or exercising more is unrealistic or unachievable, but rather, you need to start with small incremental steps to accomplish these long-term goals. Instead of eliminating foods that I like to eat from my diet, for instance, I can add more vegetables and reduce my meat intake. Rather than setting an unrealistic goal of becoming fluent in Spanish by April, you can download Duolingo and have that green owl send you notifications every day to maintain your five-minute “daily streak.” There are many steps that you can take that will lead to greater change in your life, but you need to start small.
Meeting important goals and making big changes is challenging. While you may find that your resolution of waking up at 7 a.m. and going to pilates every day is easy for a few weeks, this goal will become tougher as the quarter becomes more busy with assignments, exams and papers. Having a structure of accountability, particularly for goals that push you out of your comfort zone, is essential if you are someone like me who needs a good pep talk or the occasional social pressure to push you.
Frankly, you are more likely to go to the gym in the morning or study at the library if your friend goes with you. For better or worse, social pressure from family and friends — who care about and believe in you — has the unique ability to hold us accountable and encourage us to change.
Small incremental steps are especially important because failure is a part of making significant changes. There will be times when you pull an all-nighter to study for a midterm the next day or embarrass yourself as you nervously chatter when you meet someone new. When I decided to run every day during the pandemic — despite being a water-sport athlete my entire life — I experienced burnout after the first month-and-a-half. The point is to know that failing is part of change and you shouldn’t be too hard on yourself. In my case, I “bed-rotted” for a week and chose alternate forms of exercise that I enjoy doing during the week. Adapt and be flexible as you react to your “mistakes” or when facing challenges.
Although New Year’s resolutions provide an incentive to change your not-so-great habits, it’s important to remember that you can make changes in your life at any point during the year and whenever you want. You don’t have to wait until Jan. 1, 2026 if you already “failed” your 2025 resolutions. The process of change is not linear and when you eventually “fail,” you can try again.
If you want to reduce your TikTok usage in July, download an app to limit your time on social media — something I tried out last year. If you want to make new friends, try attending a club meeting at the beginning of this quarter. And if you convince yourself that you’re too busy this winter and don’t go to any club meetings, then you can always try again in the spring quarter.
Change is hard, but if you start with small and specific goals, you can achieve meaningful growth.
