The start of a new year begins with a vast amount of hope; hope that this will be the year you finally spend less money, read more, or learn a new language. When you are sitting by the fireplace in mid-December, with a jar of cookies and a break from school or work, these beautiful beginnings sound entirely achievable. Yet, by the end of the second week of January, your gym membership hasn’t gotten nearly as much use as your credit card, and your self-help book (written in the only language you still know) stands untouched on your bookshelf. This once-vibrant hope can feel squandered.
Maybe you are among the commendable goal achievers who made it past Quitter’s Day, only to find that once classes resumed or the holiday parties ended, your resolution was pushed to the back burner. Whatever the story, the ending feels the same: you tried, missed the mark, and feel you might as well wait until 2027 to attempt these goals again.
Before you throw in the towel completely, here are three tips for how you can proceed with your New Year’s resolution even when all hope feels lost.
- Find Your Hidden “Why”
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I am not writing to you as a motivational speaker trying to help you find the key to keep going when the going gets tough. If words of encouragement alone had been effective, you wouldn’t have broken your resolution in the first place. Instead, identifying your hidden “why” means looking for the core intention that drove you to choose that specific goal. By identifying that drive, you can reframe your goal.
To further understand this concept, consider someone who resolves to go to the gym every day. Their hidden “why” might be a desire to establish a more consistent routine. However, because the goal is so rigid, it often produces an “all-or-nothing” mindset. The moment they get sick, work runs late, or another obligation intervenes, the goal is considered a failure. In this instance, the habit no longer serves the heart behind the resolution.
- Lower the Bar
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While it may seem counterintuitive to suggest that lowering the bar gives you more to celebrate, it is a central concept to keeping your resolution throughout the year. This is the part where it is important to take a long, hard look at where your expectations lie. To structure a goal built on your heart, it is critical to understand that ambition and reality need to find a middle ground in your mind. New Year’s resolutions often reach their breaking point when they consume more time or energy than you are actually willing or able to give.
Research suggests that progress is more sustainable when goals are divided into smaller accomplishments. Think of the satisfaction you feel when completing a mundane chore like making your bed, and how it can inspire you to clean your entire bedroom. These small wins build self-efficacy in the same way that breaking up a New Year’s resolution can encourage you to keep chasing your goal. This can be seen in something as small as adding the word “more” to the end of your goals, such as drinking more water, reading more, or exercising more, which makes progress easier to recognize and celebrate over time.
- Broaden Your Definition of Success
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How you measure success shapes how you experience a resolution. In my family, instead of creating a precise New Year’s resolution, we choose a single word to guide the year. For 2026, I chose the word “balance.” Rather than judging my year by whether I followed a specific checklist, success is defined by whether my choices reflect that word. I could have attempted a resolution filled with strict expectations involving extremely early mornings, strenuous workouts, and a total sugar ban, but I would have felt defeated the moment a sweet treat crossed my path. Choosing a theme instead allows space for imperfect days while still keeping the larger intention in focus.
Goals built on broad definitions of success are less likely to fail because they leave room for grace. Even the most carefully designed New Year’s resolutions involve milestones that are not met. If one is only able to see success through the lens of achieving their ultimate goal, then finding the discipline to keep showing up will be nearly impossible. This would be like trying to run a race with a teammate who is rooting against you up until you cross the finish line. So, as important as it is to celebrate the little victories, it is equally important to be kind toward the moments you fall short.
New Year’s resolutions are meant to be filled with hope, not dread, for the year to come. They can quickly become unhealthy when giving up sounds more appealing than growth. This year is far from over, and it is my hope that by thinking about what led you here, you can adjust your goals and move forward with more confidence and strength. Simply wanting to try again on your resolution is something to take great pride in.