Most People Commit to New Year Resolutions for Only a Few Weeks

Start working on your New Year goals right now, not tomorrow or on the 1st of January. If you aren't ready to start today, it's likely you don't really want the goal.

Many people start off the year with a commitment to their new year's resolution. However, not many people stick to their commitments and reach their New Year goals.

In the UK, for example, 30 million Brits started the year 2023 with a commitment to new year resolutions, top among them being health, money, family, and self-improvement resolutions. However, studies show that 21% of people only last a month before giving up a new habit.

Intrigued to find out more, Live Rugby Tickets conducted a survey of 2,000 participants to determine the most popular resolutions for 2024, as well as how many people are likely to stick to them, and how long for.

Key Study Findings:

Half of respondents plan to exercise more in the new year, ranking as the most popular New Year's resolution.
Both men and women (27%) believe it is important to plan ahead to reach your goals.
Quitting smoking is the least popular goal, with only 6% voting this choice.
Nearly three in ten (29%) women and more than a third (34%) of men said they could commit to New Year resolution for only a few weeks.

Top 10 most popular New Year resolutions

The most popular New Year’s resolution for 2024 amongst UK adults is to exercise more, with half of those surveyed choosing this as their top priority.

Other health and wellness goals came in joint second, with improving general health, and losing weight ranking among the top resolutions for the upcoming New Year, both with 43% of participant votes.

Resolutions relating to health seem to be on everyone’s mind for 2024, with the UK recently ranking as the 34th healthiest country in the world, according to a recent study.

The fourth most desired goal is to improve saving habits, as more than a third (38%) of respondents look to find tips and tricks to save those extra pennies.

With the expense of Christmas and the ongoing cost of living crisis taking its toll, a third of Brits are also cutting back on festive spending this year.

The fifth most popular resolution is to learn a new skill in 2024, popular amongst a fifth of UK adults (20%).

UK’s 10 most popular New Year resolutions for 2024:

Rank	Resolution	% of Participant Response
1	Exercise	50%
=2	Improve general health / wellbeing	43%
=2	Lose weight	43%
4	Improve saving habits	38%
5	Learn a new skill	20%
6	Travel	19%
=7	Take up a new sport	17%
=7	Stay organized	17%
9	Read	7%
10	Quit smoking	6%

The survey results also suggested that men are more likely to learn a new skill (7% more likely) and take up a new sport (4% more likely) than women are.

Comparatively, women were found to be marginally more likely to commit to more personal goals, such as to improve their wellbeing (6% more likely), staying organized (4% more likely), and improving their savings habits (7% more likely) than men are.

Nevertheless, the data revealed that despite their best efforts, both men and women were most likely to commit to their New Year goals for just a few short weeks at the most.

Most people stick to New Year resolutions for less than a month

Nearly three in ten (29%) women, and more than a third (34%) of men, state that only a few weeks is the duration they felt they could commit to New Year resolution.

Survey Question: On average, how long do you tend to stick to your New year resolutions for?
	Female	Male	Other	Grand Total
1 day	51	48		99
12 months	37	30		67
2-3 months	109	108	1	218
3-6 months	111	104	1	216
6-12 months	76	59	1	136
a couple of days	30	30	1	61
a few weeks	290	336	3	629
a month	170	137	1	308
about a week	124	142		266
Grand Total	998	994	8	2000

Sarah Bolitho, Behavior Change Specialist, commented on why so many give up their resolutions, and how to succeed in reaching your goals:

“There are three key reasons people give up on their goals, despite setting them in the first place. Firstly, they have set a superficial goal, but have not thought about the deeper benefits or gains from it.
Secondly, while the outcome goal has been set, the actual steps to achieve this successfully are not planned out.
And thirdly, they don’t begin their goals from where they currently are in terms of knowledge or ability, instead they jump ahead and expect to succeed instantly. You need to focus on the journey, rather than the outcome.
My best advice is not to not set resolutions but instead start by focusing on one small positive change you can make in your daily routine. Simple changes will be gradually absorbed into your life and build confidence you need to accomplish bigger aims.”

Finally, Sara says she always advise her clients to start right now, not tomorrow, not next month, or even on the 1st of January. Do so now. If you aren't ready to start today, then the likelihood is that you don't really want the goal.