Jan 26, 2023, 11:59 p.m. EST

Erie, PA— Every year we see the same cycle repeat itself. News Year’s resolutions are made and kept for what seems to be a couple days, and then just as fast as the resolutions were made, we fall right back into our old habits. If this cycle sounds familiar to you, or if you yourself have fallen victim to the resolution making trend to fall off faster than you started, you are not alone. Making these resolutions is the easy part, keeping them is where it gets tricky.

So, why is it so hard for the average person to keep their resolutions? It starts with the resolutions that are being made.

There are 3 categories that the most common resolutions fall under.

The first category is health and wellness. For many resolution makers the first thing on the list for the new year is weight loss, exercising more, eating healthier, etc. These resolutions explain why the gym population grows within the month of January every year. This rise in gym goers known as the “gym spike” which is mainly due to resolution makers flooding the gyms in hopes to lose the holiday weight and pick up a new habit. According to WCNC Charlotte, 12 percent of new gym memberships occur in January across the country. But of that 12%, only about 80% quit or cancel their membership within five months, or by early July.

The second category is money and career goals. In this category many resolution makers are hoping to save more money, make a career change, and donate to charity in the new year. According to kiplinger.com, nearly half of Americans who make resolutions related to better money management in some area of their lives fall short of their goals due to vague expectations and no real plans as to how they plan to achieve the monetary goal they set in place of the beginning of the year.

The third category and arguably the most popular are the resolutions to break bad habits. These resolutions may include using social media less, cutting down on alcohol consumption, giving up smoking and less procrastination just to name a few. The main obstacle that resolution makers have in the way of achieving goals made in this category is simply the “lacking the willpower needed” to break said habit, according to an article written by Adam Piore for Newsweek.

Understanding the most common resolutions can give a little bit of insight into why the average resolution maker can have a tough time keeping up with their goals.

Discover Happy Habits reports that a 2016 study showed that of the 41 percent of Americans who make resolutions at the beginning of the year, only about 9-12 percent believe that they were successful in keeping them. The main reasons why people claim they could not keep their resolutions were due to setting unrealistic goals, not keeping track of their progress, forgetting about their resolutions, or even having too many resolutions than they felt were attainable within a year.

For those questioning how one can possibly make a resolution and still to it, there are ways to make resolutions seem less daunting and more achievable.

There are few simple ways that you can get on the right track when it comes to resolution. UC Davis’s Cultivating Health gives 7 tips on how to keep your New Year’s resolution: 1) Be picky about your resolutions and only take on a few, 2) Plan your resolution to determine how long it might take you to achieve your goal, 3) Set very specific goals that can be measured or are precise enough that you can check them off a list, 4) Don’t take on too much and be realistic with your goals and know your capabilities, 5) Choose a new resolution instead of recycling an old one from prior years to avoid setting yourself up for failure, 6) Get an accountability partner or someone that would be willing to partake in the resolution with you so that there is always someone keeping you on track, and lastly 7) Give your resolution time to become a habit, which can take up to 18 to 254 days of consistently working toward the resolution.

Overall, setting new goals can be a challenge no matter what point in the year they are made. The best thing to do when trying to stay on track with New Year’s resolutions is to not be too hard on yourself if you could not consistent the first go around. The beginning of the year is a tough time to try to make substantial changes in your life, so remember to slow down and take your time. Anytime a new goal is set, it is usual for them not to go the way you envisioned, but always remember why you started. Give yourself the grace to fail and try again as many times as it takes to achieve your goals and resolutions as the new year trudges on.