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How to increase your odds of sticking to your New Year's resolution

For those of you who have set New Year's resolutions in the past, you are probably aware that success rates are typically low. Research conducted by the University of Scranton found almost half of the participants failed to maintain their resolution for longer than a month.

However, a study conducted by Dr Gail Matthews from the Dominican University of California has shown writing down your goals increase your odds of achieving them. Placing your written goals on your bedroom wall (or somewhere where they can be easily seen) will  act as a constant reminder, and keep them fresh in your memory. Sharing your goals with supportive others is also likely to enhance your commitment. 


In Matthews' study, participants were asked to generate a goal for something they wanted to achieve within the following 4 weeks, and were randomly assigned to one of the following groups: 

  • Group 1 - didn't write down their goal.

  • Group 2 - wrote down their goal.

  • Group 3 - wrote down their goal and action commitments.

  • Group 4 - wrote down their goal, action commitments, and sent these to a friend.

  • Group 5 - wrote down and sent their their goal, action commitments, and weekly feedback to a friend.

* Action commitments are strategies that you plan to implement, to help you achieve your goal.


At the completion of the 4 weeks, 149 participants rated their progress. The results showed that the groups (2-5) who wrote down their goals achieved significantly more than the group (1) who had not. Individually, group 5 achieved the most and achieved significantly more than any other group, and group 4 was next highest, suggesting sharing your goals is beneficial to the goal setting process.


Our 2020 New Year's Resolution Challenge for YOU

Choose ONE goal that you would like to achieve by the end of January 2020 (this could be a short-term goal of a larger goal or its own goal - you choose). It could be a goal to do with sport or not.

  1. Write down some action plans you will need to do to help you achieve your goal.

  2. Join the Sport Psychology Support Forum on Facebook (private group) - click here.

  3. Find the relevant Facebook feed, and post steps 1 & 2 into the comments section. Provide feedback on the same feed each week on how you are doing in regards to implementing your action plan and the progress towards your goal.

* If you need any help with the goal setting/action plan process - contact us now.

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