“New Year, new me.”
It’s a tired, old cliche, but its sentiment still holds value. Many people want to improve their lives in one way or another, and the new year gives them a good excuse to get started.
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So just what goals are people setting for themselves for 2023? And how likely are they to stick? Let’s dive into some data!
Most popular resolutions
According to data from Statista, over the past three years, two New Year’s resolutions have remained the most popular among Americans: exercising more and eating healthier.
For those making resolutions for 2023, exercising more is the No. 1 goal of the hundreds of participants surveyed. The second most popular option, with popularity among 50% of respondents, is to eat healthier. Similarly, 40% of respondents said at least one of their goals is to lose weight.
Just below that, 39% of respondents said they hope to save more money, 37% said they want to spend more time with family and friends, and 20% said they want to spend less time on social media.
The data shows that 19% said one of their goals is to “reduce stress on the job,” and another 19% said they hope to reduce spending on living expenses. (Survey respondents could select more than one option, which is why the percentages don’t add up to 100%.)
Here’s all that information in graph form:
The numbers for 2023 are similar to those recorded in 2022.
Exercising more, eating healthier and losing weight were the three most popular New Year’s resolutions among Americans in 2022, just as they were in 2023. More survey respondents showed interest in exercising more and eating healthier in 2023 than they did in 2022, however.
Another popular goal in 2022 was to spend more time with family and friends, as it is for 2023. About 24% of Americans who set New Year’s resolutions in 2022 said they want to live more economically -- similar to the goal of saving more money, which is among the most popular for 2023.
Notably, the goal to quit smoking made the list of top resolutions in 2022, but not in 2023.
Below are the resolutions that were most popular for the year 2022.
Looking back to 2021, exercising more and eating healthier were still the top two resolutions among Americans for that year. Coming in third, however, was the goal of spending more time with family and friends -- surpassing the goal of losing weight that remained in the top three for 2022 and 2023.
Popular resolutions from 2021 that did not make the lists in 2022 and 2023 included improving job performance and cutting back on alcohol.
Below are the resolutions that were most popular for the year 2021.
Will they stick?
Making New Year’s resolutions is a fairly easy task -- the hard part is actually sticking to them throughout the year.
Another survey conducted by Statista at the end of 2022 sought to determine if Americans were sticking to their New Year’s resolutions or not. Of the more than 6,700 people who responded, 22% said they had stuck to their resolutions set earlier in the year, while 11% said they did not stick to their resolutions.
A whopping 63% of survey respondents said they never made any New Year’s resolutions for 2022. That number is pretty consistent with other research showing that only around 40% of Americans actually make New Year’s resolutions for themselves each year.
For those who do set goals for the new year, sticking to those resolutions is a problem nationwide. A University of Scranton study published in 2007 found that 23% of people give up on their resolutions after one week. The study also found that only 19% of people stick to their resolutions long term (which was a two-year period in the study).
About 53% of those successfully following their resolutions reported at least one slip-up, with an average of 14 slip-ups reported among those studied during the two-year period. Those slip-ups were typically brought on by a “lack of personal control, excessive stress and negative emotion,” the study found.
If you’d really like to stick to your resolutions this year, experts suggest you do the following:
- Set specific, smaller goals (change is a marathon, not a sprint)
- Set goals that matter to you (you’ll only change if you want to)
- Have a detailed plan
- Consciously monitor your habits and your progress
- Ask your support system to help hold you accountable
- Be patient and forgiving with yourself as you go
- Reward your accomplishments
Good luck to you and Happy New Year!
Previously on Data Drop: