How to Keep New Year's Resolutions

Published October 4, 2026.

Most resolutions are written as a hope. Write yours as a finish line instead, and plan back to January.

To keep a New Year's resolution, frame it as something to start rather than something to stop, write it as already done by a real date, name the obstacle most likely to get in the way, and plan back to one small action in the first week of January. Then check your progress every month.

What research says about resolutions

The largest study we know of is a 2020 experiment in PLOS ONE by Martin Oscarsson, Per Carlbring, Gerhard Andersson and Alexander Rozental. They followed 1,066 people who made resolutions for one year. Source.

• About half kept them. At the one year follow-up, 55% of people who responded saw themselves as successful.
• Approach goals did better. People with approach goals, things to start or do more of, were more successful than people with avoidance goals, things to stop or avoid: 58.9% vs 47.1%.
• Some support helped. The group that got some support did better than the other two groups. Stockholm University's summary notes that support overall did not make a large difference across the year. Source.

The takeaway is hopeful and practical. Resolutions are not doomed, and how you phrase them seems to matter.

Why resolutions usually slip

• They are vague. "Get healthy" has no finish line, so there is no way to know if you are on track.
• They are framed as stopping. "Stop eating sugar" gives you nothing to do, only something to resist.
• They have no first step. January 1 arrives and nothing is scheduled.
• They are never checked. By March, nobody remembers the exact words.

Six steps to a resolution that lasts

1. Turn "stop" into "start". "Stop doomscrolling" becomes "read before bed". Based on the Oscarsson study, this is the simplest change you can make.
2. Write it as done. Past tense, with a date: "By December 31 I read 20 books, mostly before bed." This is the core of Reverse Journaling.
3. Add proof. A list of titles, a race result, a savings balance. Something you can check.
4. Name the obstacle and plan for it. "If I pick up my phone in bed, then I will put it on the dresser and open my book." For more on these sentences, see implementation intentions or the WOOP method.
5. Plan backward to January. What had to be true by June, by March, by the end of January, by January 7?
6. Review on the first of each month. Ten minutes. Are you on track for the next checkpoint? Adjust if not.

The free reverse planner can do step 5 in about a minute. Type the resolution as done, choose "1 year" or pick December 31, and it drafts dated milestones backward with a first step.

A worked example

Old resolution: "Stop spending so much time on my phone."

• Start version: "Read more books."
• Written as done: "By December 31 I read 20 books, and most nights I read for 20 minutes before sleep."
• Proof: a list of 20 titles in my journal.
• Obstacle: I scroll in bed and lose an hour.
• If-then plan: "If I get into bed, then my phone charges in the kitchen and the book is on my pillow."
• June 30: "I finished 10 books."
• March 31: "I finished 5 books and the phone-in-kitchen habit stuck."
• January 31: "I finished 2 books."
• January 1 to 7: "I bought a phone charger for the kitchen, chose my first two books and read three nights."

The resolution now has a finish line, an obstacle plan and a first week. It is also an approach goal: the phone problem is handled as part of a thing to start.

Turning common resolutions into starts

Here are a few familiar resolutions, rewritten as approach goals and then as done statements.

• "Stop eating junk food" becomes "cook dinner at home four nights a week", then "By December 31 I cooked at home four nights a week for most of the year and learned ten new recipes."
• "Stop being so stressed" becomes "take a 20 minute walk at lunch", then "By June 30 I walked at lunch on most workdays."
• "Stop wasting money" becomes "save on payday", then "By December 31 I saved one month of expenses, moved automatically each payday."
• "Stop procrastinating" becomes "start my hardest task first", then "By March 31 I did one 45 minute block on my hardest task before lunch on most workdays."
• "Stop neglecting friends" becomes "call one friend a week", then "By December 31 I called or saw a friend almost every week."

Each version gives you something to do today, not just something to resist.

What to do when February arrives

Many people notice their resolution slipping a few weeks in. That is normal, and it is the moment that decides the year.

• Look at what you did, not what you missed. If you read three nights a week instead of seven, that is still more than last year. Write it down.
• Shrink the action. If 20 minutes feels like too much, do 10. A smaller habit you keep beats a bigger one you drop.
• Check the obstacle plan. Did the obstacle you named show up? Did your plan work? If a different obstacle showed up, plan for that one instead.
• Move the checkpoint. If March looks out of reach, move it to April. Keep the finish line, adjust the path.

You do not have to wait for January

There is nothing special about January 1 except that many people start together. If you are reading this in October, you can write the goal as done for next October and start this week. If you want to end the year first, an end of year review is a good bridge.

Make this the year it sticks

Pick one resolution, turn it into a start, write it as done, and plan the first week. Start From Done turns that plan into a daily 45 minute sprint and keeps a done list so you can see progress by March, not just hope for it. The core is free.

Questions

What percentage of people keep New Year's resolutions?

In a 2020 study of 1,066 people by Oscarsson and colleagues, 55% of those who responded at one year saw themselves as successful. Other studies use different methods and find different numbers.

What kind of resolution is most likely to work?

In that same study, approach goals, things to start or do more of, were more successful than avoidance goals, things to stop: 58.9% vs 47.1%.

How do I write a good New Year's resolution?

Make it something to start, write it as already done by a real date, add proof, name the main obstacle with an if-then plan, and plan back to the first week.

How often should I check my resolution?

Once a month is a good rhythm. A short weekly check works even better if you can keep it up.

Do I have to start on January 1?

No. Any date works. What matters is a clear finish line and a first step you can take this week.

Keep reading

• Reverse Goal Setting: How to Plan Backward From DoneReverse goal setting starts at the finished goal and plans backward to today. 7 min read.
• Backward Planning (Backcasting) for Personal GoalsBackward planning, or backcasting, starts from the finished goal and works back to today. 5 min read.
• How to Plan Your Year BackwardPlan your year backward: write December as done, set four quarterly checkpoints, then pick one 45-minute action for this week. 6 min read.
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