More than a third of Britons won’t keep their New Year’s resolutions

Keeping your New Year resolutions is tough. Here at TOG24 we surveyed 2,000 people and discovered that more than a third of people didn’t manage to keep the resolution that they made in 2023 and 57% of people said they found keeping a resolution quite hard or very hard.

This has not dented our enthusiasm for making resolutions though, with 58% of us making one or more resolutions in 2024.

As champions of getting out and about, exercising and good mental health, we here at TOG24 want to help you keep your resolve as much as possible, so we’ve put together this handy guide of tried and tested tips to help you stay strong and achieve your 2024 goals.

1. Set realistic goals
   
   If you go too big in your resolutions, it’s harder to keep them. There’s nothing wrong with being ambitious, but going from never exercising to running a marathon by March would be a stretch for anyone. Even if you’re doing well at reaching your goal, a huge target can feel unattainable because you have so much ground to cover. It can make it easier to hit bigger goals if you start small and then build on a sense of momentum and achievement.
   
   If there is a really big target you’d like to hit, then it’s a good idea to set milestones along the way so that you feel like you’re making progress as you develop.
   
   Another key consideration when trying to make sure that the goals you set are realistic is whether or not your lifestyle can accommodate them. Sticking with our marathon example, even if you’re a regular runner, have all the activewear you need and are very fit, marathon training requires that you spend a lot of time out and about running. You need to consider whether you can make that time commitment. Your resolution needs to be something that you can accommodate in your life.
   
   
2. Resolve to do something you actually want to do
   
   Is your resolution something you actually want to achieve or is it just something you feel like you should do? A large-scale research project into New Year resolutions published in the US in 2020 showed that the vast majority of goals people wanted to achieve were related to weight loss, physical health and eating habits. Whilst many of these people likely did sincerely want to make healthier choices, it also likely that a significant number of them felt pressure to do so and didn’t really want to make the change. Change is harder to sustain when it doesn’t come from a genuine desire but instead feels like a chore.
   
   
3. Tell people about your resolution
   
   It can be tempting to keep your resolution quiet so if you don’t manage to keep it, you won’t look silly. However, not wanting to look silly or like a failure is a great motivation to keep going and, crucially, the person you tell can offer support and further motivation. The study we mentioned above found that on the whole, receiving support led to better success in keeping resolutions. 
   
   
4. Plan your resolutions in as much detail as you can
   
   The more detailed the plan you’ve got for your resolutions, the more likely you are to keep them. If your resolution is simply “get fit” then it’s really hard for you to know if you’ve reached that goal as it is so vague. A better plan would be “I will go for a half-hour walk at least five times per week”. This is much more measurable and easy to track if you’re achieving it.
   
   But you can go further. Think about when in the day you will go for a walk, what route or routes could you take, and how will you deal with bad weather? It could be as simple as buying a good quality raincoat. By planning for these kinds of things up front if you do encounter an obstacle, it will be easier to overcome it.
   
   
5. Focus on the positives
   
   Another great tip is to try and put yourself in a positive mindset because when you’re feeling positive you’re more mentally resilient and will find it easier to overcome setbacks and achieve your goals.
   
   A great way to do this is to look back on 2023 and think about all of the good things that happened and all of the successes that you had. It can also be worth listing the negative things and reframing these in a more positive light. Every cloud has a silver lining so what were the good things that came from even the bad things that happened? Try and be grateful for all of the good things that happened in your life and build a positive mindset.
   
   

Keep Your Resolutions In 2024

Whatever your goals for 2024, we hope you’ll find our tips helpful in keeping them. Have a great year and all the best from the team at TOG24!