Going to the gym is one of the most common New Year’s resolutions
Focusing on what you can control and “creating time” instead of “having time” are two important factors in not losing motivation after failing.
Every year, many of us boldly announce our resolutions for the new year. A glass of champagne on New Year’s Eve can increase our confidence in our ability to do better in the coming year and save more, spend less, eat betterexercise more or do fewer series marathons.
But most of our resolutions fail. Even in the first few weeks after the New Year, the most people have already given up on them. However, not all failure stories are the same, because how you talk about failure matters for your own motivation and for the confidence others place in your ability to try again.
So what can we do after we give up on our resolution? We announced our good intentions to friends and family and now we need to admit failure. Research shows that how you express your failed resolution can affect how people view you. And understand the reasons why most resolutions don’t work can help us fulfill it in the future. In fact, you can talk about your resolutions in a way that makes your failure more understandable and supports your motivation to continue.
A constructive way to discuss your unfulfilled resolution is focus on what can be controlled in this failure. Research shows that most resolutions require some investment of time and money. For example, getting in shape requires time for exercise and usually also money for a gym or fitness equipment. Since both resources are essential to achieving our goals, many unfulfilled resolutions are due to lack of time or money, or both.
When discussing past unfulfilled resolutions, we should focus on how a lack of money contributed to this failure, rather than a lack of time. In a 2024 study, people read about fictional and real participants who failed due to lack of money or time. Most participants believed that the person whose failure was caused by lack of money would have more self-control in the future and would be more reliable in achieving its objectives.
This effect occurred because the lack of money is seen as something that cannot be easily controlled; therefore, if this was the cause of the failure, there was not much the person who failed could have done about it.
In this survey, the majority of unfulfilled resolutions were related to weight loss, healthy eating or working out at the gym. Participants felt the same regardless of whether the person who failed was male or female, presumably because it is plausible that everyone needs time and money to achieve various goals, regardless of gender or specific resolution.
O role of controllability It takes a different form when we think about how we can do better next time.
The role of time
Research also shows that how we view time matters when it comes to failure. For the past, it is better to think about things outside of our control that can help counter the negativity of failure and reinforce the belief that we can do better. This may mean, for example, considering how our failure was due to a lack of money or other resources beyond our control.
For the future, however, adopt an active perspective on time. Analyze your schedule and make conscious decisions about how to allocate time to pursue your goals, whether scheduling gym sessions or setting aside time to prepare healthy meals. This may motivate us to try again, as We are not victims of our busy schedules.
A study published in October 2025, which looked at how lack of time contributes to failure, showed that people can regain a sense of control by talk about “creating time”instead of “having time”. People who discussed their failures as a matter of not making time felt they could do things differently in the future and were more motivated to do so.
This is because “creating time” suggests active control over one’s own time and agenda, while “having time” leaves us passive. For example, if you say you haven’t made time to exercise, that means you can make time in the future if you want. On the other hand, if you say you didn’t have time to exercise, it seems that this lack of time is out of your control and could happen again, preventing you from reaching your exercise goals.
Find the joy
Another reason why so many people have difficulty keeping their New Year’s resolutions could be excess ambition or the fact that they neglect the joy and pleasure that drive us.
It’s not enough to have a goal in mind. Finding joy in walking and believing in the ability to change is also important. For example, someone might want to get fit and exercise more, but when they try to go to the gym, they lack the confidence to sign up for a class. Without some fun, it’s difficult to stick to a resolution, even if we really want to achieve the goal. So, try to think of ways to make the goal more enjoyable and remember that you can do it.
The New Year’s resolution trend isn’t bad in itself. While it may seem like a paradox to begin virtuous habits right after a night of bingeing on alcohol and food, research shows that we can, in fact, benefit from the “fresh start” effectwhere a fresh start on the calendar can provide a new opportunity to start better habits.
But we don’t have to wait for the calendar to give us a fresh start. We can choose to make our own resolution (maybe a Valentine’s Day or Easter resolution?) to increase motivation to pursue our goals.
