Yes, the Number One reason resolutions fail is that we don’t install the new behavior in the well-established habit pattern. We don’t put it on our calendar, connect it to another established habit, or create the time management structure around the new habit.

Let’s explore all 10 reasons a bit further.

10. Lack of specificity

(e.g. exercise more)

Very often our New Year’s resolutions are vague and without measure with words like more/less. Things like:

– eat less
– exercise more
– see friends more frequently
– call my Mom more

Without a clear measure – you can’t know if you’re succeeding or failing and can get discouraged quickly.

9. Not connecting the resolution (an action or series of actions) to a specific goal (your WHY)

Without connecting the resolution (e.g. 100 situps/day) to a clear, specific, measurable goal (e.g. six pack abs by May 1st 2024), any obstacle can derail your action plan.

Because you haven’t stated “what” you want or “why” you want it.

Creating a goal that states your what (objective) and why will empower you to overcome obstacles and keep moving towards your goal.

8. Too many resolutions

(trying to change everything all at once)

It’s not uncommon to make resolutions that contain everything plus the kitchen sink!

We get caught up in the excitement of change. But change goes against human nature and the law of inertia:

“What does the law of inertia state?
law of inertia, postulate in physics that, if a body is at rest or moving at a constant speed in a straight line, it will remain at rest or keep moving in a straight line at constant speed unless it is acted upon by a force.” 

Britannica.com

Too much change, too fast will create resistance to that change and keep you moving in the same direction you have been moving. We rarely have the energy to apply enough force to overcome our own inertia in major ways.

7. All-or-nothing thinking

(e.g. resolving to exercise 3 times/week and miss once. Oh, well, I’ve failed!)

All-or-nothing thinking is one of the most common conceptual paradigms – it’s binary thinking. You’ve either succeeded or failed. And it only takes missing your resolution target once or twice to trigger this kind of thinking.

Remember, creating a new habit takes time and repetition.

6. External pressure – your resolutions are “shoulds”

When we make a decision to change a behavior because we “should” do it, or because someone else is telling us we should, the motivation is not internal and therefore lacks commitment.

It often includes shades of shame/blame. Shame/blame keeps us locked in inertia and therefore change motivated by “shoulds” rarely sticks.

5. Lack of accountability and support

Let’s face it. Change is hard. Just making a resolution to add or subtract a behavior that is habitual needs both accountability and support in order to succeed.

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of they friends`s or of thine own were. Any man`s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.”

John Donne

In order to truly succeed at anything in life, we must surround ourselves with people (and coaches) who encourage us, support us, give us perspective and feedback, and hold us accountable to our promises.

4. Lack of internal commitment

You don’t decide to make a change once and then you’re done.

You choose to make that change all day, every day, over and over again.

You choose to make that change in the face of your inertia.

You choose to make that change in the face of other people’s judgements and your own.

That’s what commitment is. Choosing over, and over, and over.

3. Procrastination

(e.g. I’ll start next week)

Procrastination is a much larger subject that I will address in a future installment of this Time Management series. But suffice it to say that procrastination is a symptom, not the root of the problem.

People procrastinate for many different reasons and there may even be different reasons for procrastinating on different resolutions. So you must ask yourself – what is driving your procrastination?

But whatever the reason – putting off starting the new behavior of the resolution will likely cause you to never start.

2. Fear of failure

Often a driver of procrastination, our fear of failure can drive us to avoid the whole thing altogether!

Drum roll, please! 

1. Lack of planning and time management skills

You didn’t add the resolution to your existing time management system (if you have one).

The Number One reason resolutions fail is that we don’t create the plan or structure to implement that decision into our day-to-day world.

We don’t think about what it will take to actually make that resolution real.

For example, if you make the resolution to eat better, when will you go grocery shopping? When will you research recipes? When will you do the cooking? Are you bringing a meal to work? Do you have the storage containers you need? When will you buy them?

Any one of those questions can be a big enough obstacle to cause you to fail on your commitment. And as I’ve said above – it only takes failing once to quit on your resolution.