Only two weeks into the year, many people have fallen short of their New Year’s goals. The second Friday in January is known as “Quitter’s Day,” when people are most likely to throw in the towel on their resolutions.
“There are lots of features of the human operating system that serve as obstacles to change,” says Katy Milkman, professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business and author of How to Change: The Science of Getting From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be.
From craving instant gratification to losing motivation and choosing the path of least resistance, it’s not surprising that lofty goals end up back on the resolution board a year later, Milkman says.
But there’s an art to making a resolution that can stand the test of time.
Here are three ways to reframe your goals and see them through.
Make bite-sized goals
If you want to run a half marathon in 2024, boost your social connections, or start volunteering, that's great. But, if you haven’t mapped out how you will get there, it’s less likely you can achieve those goals. “Make sure resolutions are broken down into bite-sized, approachable, daily, or weekly actions,” Milkman says.
Milkman, who collaborated on a study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, found that people who set a volunteering goal of 200 hours per year were more likely to succeed when breaking up their goal into bite-sized steps. People who set a goal of four hours of volunteering a week spent 8% more time volunteering than those whose goal was 200 hours per year.
Milkman says to ask yourselves the following questions to help you break down your goal:
- Where will you do it?
- How will you do it?
- How will you get there?
Find out what is standing in your way
If you find something disincentivizing you from sticking to your goal, find a new route, such as rewarding yourself during or after completing the goal. It’s intuitive and relates to what Milkman describes as “temptation bundling,” or coupling something you love with your habit, such as listening to your favorite podcast while you do your strength workout or watching your favorite show after you put money into savings.
“I tend to assume most people know what they want, but many haven’t figured out the right path to success,” Milkman says.
Having trouble sticking to your new fitness routine? Choose a workout you enjoy more (hello, pickleball boom). If you can’t fit your habit into your schedule, consider switching a few things around, setting reminders on your phone, or having an accountability partner.
Adopt a growth mindset
A growth mindset, rather than a fixed mindset, is ever-changing. It’s when we think about situations as points on a larger map and challenges as learning experiences over failures. This mindset can serve us when applied toward our goals.
“The best goals stretch us, which means some missteps and goal failures are likely,” Milkman says. “It’s important to have a growth mindset about goal pursuit, which means recognizing that missteps are part of the journey and they can help us learn and grow and succeed with greater likelihood in the future by rethinking our path.”
Alexis Fernandez, a neuroscientist and podcast host of Do You F*cking Mind?, often reminds listeners that it’s ok to miss a day on the way to your goals. We are often so hard on ourselves that after one skip, we give up. Instead, Fernandez suggests giving yourself grace and trying not to fall off the wagon twice in a row.
What’s more, the New Year is only one marker of a new start. Don’t be afraid to choose another date to start working on a new habit.
“If you slip on your New Year’s resolution, choose another date or event to try again. Your birthday, the start of a new season, an anniversary, favorite holiday, or even the Super Bowl, can be used as motivation to try achieving your goals again,” Dr. Scott Braunstein, national medical director at Sollis Health, previously told Fortune.
