By Kelsey Kendall
In the first few weeks of 2026, you can expect to see crowded gyms and more people with vegetables and other healthy food choices in their shopping baskets. Within weeks, most of them will have given up and fallen back into old habits.
New Year’s resolutions often fail not because people lack discipline, but because the traditional approach to goal setting does not align with how the brain actually works.
That insight comes from David Spiegel, MD, Anne Armistead Robinson Endowed Chair in Psychiatry and professor and chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences Eastern Virginia Medical School at Ϲ.
“January 1 is just another day,” Dr. Spiegel said. “Real transformation begins whenever someone chooses a rhythm that matches who they are and the life they want to create.”
So, what does it take to set a New Year’s resolution and see it through? Dr. Spiegel shares what psychology has to say about setting meaningful goals.
Consider the time you have when setting a goal.
It is not uncommon for people to give up on their resolutions early in the new year. Dr. Spiegel says many resolutions are ambitious, but fail to consider an important factor: time. Everyone has the same number of hours in a day, and no amount of planning or multitasking changes that. It is important to set goals that take time into consideration and prioritize what areas of your life you want to make the most improvement.
Setting “SMART” goals helps with this prioritizing. “SMART” stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. Using this framework to decide what goals you set and their feasibility, better sets you up for success.
Set resolutions that support the life you want, not the one you think you should be living.
When a goal is set simply because you think it “should be,” you are more likely to fail. Dr. Spiegel says this happens because people naturally push back against obligations, even when they are well intentioned. It is better to pay less attention to outside influences telling you that you “should” do this or that. Consider what you want, why you want it andnotice how your motivation deepens when a goal reflects your own values.
Habit change is hard. Focus on the process, not just the outcome.
Many resolutions focus on stopping. You want to stop mindlessly scrolling on your phone, stop eating sugar or stop overspending. The problem is, Dr. Spiegel says, the brain does not work like that. It wants to hold on to comforting habits even if they’re not necessarily good for you in the long run.
Instead, Dr. Spiegel recommends reframing the goals to focus on what you want to gain, like strength, peace, energy, fitness or financial freedom. This makes a significant difference in how your brain responds to these goals and views the process, which will be challenging enough.
That’s where resilience comes in. Setbacks and slow progress are bound to happen, but that does not mean the resolution failed.
“Praise yourself for engaging in change, rather than criticizing yourself for a slow outcome or slow progress early in the resolution process, which decreases motivation,” Dr. Spiegel said.
You don’t need a resolution to make a change in your life.
Lasting change, Dr. Spiegel says, is not about sticking to a perfect plan. It is about setting goals that fit real life, staying flexible when setbacks happen and recognizing progress along the way. When resolutions are grounded in personal values rather than pressure, they are more likely to move people forward long after January ends.