New Year's Resolutions 2026: How to Pick and Keep Realistic Resolutions

As we near the end of 2025, many of us are looking ahead to what 2026 may hold. In a year defined by constant noise and overwhelming change, you might be looking forward to a fresh start in the new year. 

We're nearing a period of time where you'll hear a lot of people sharing what their new year's resolutions are. Maybe you roll your eyes when you listen to them set their resolutions because you know they'll give them up by the end of January. Maybe you jump in on the conversation to share your own resolutions. 

Whatever the case may be, we wanted to share our thoughts on resolutions. This post will explore: 

• How to set realistic resolutions
• What the top ten most popular resolutions are
• Why do most resolutions fail

By the time you finish reading, you'll have all the tools you need to set attainable resolutions for 2026. 

How to Set Realistic New Year's Resolutions?

When it comes to setting New Year's resolutions, it's important to be realistic about what you can accomplish. A lot of people set unattainable goals and then discouraged when they fail to complete them. 

We have a few easy steps you can take to ensure you are setting realistic resolutions: 

• Think about where you want to be at the end of 2026. The first step you should take when setting resolutions is thinking about what you want your life to look like at the end of the next year. Do you see yourself exploring your creative pursuits? Maybe you see a career change or a move to a new city. What does your ideal situation look like at the end of 2026? Once you have an image in mind, you can begin to work backwards to set resolutions to help you achieve that image. 
• Set specific goals. The next step you can take is setting specific goals. Setting a bunch of broad goals might leave you feeling overwhelmed and increase your chances of ditching your resolutions. An example of a broad goal would be saying you want to cook more meals at home. An example of a specific goal would be I will commit to cooking a new recipe every month in 2026. Set 2 or 3 specific resolutions that you think you can achieve by the end of the year. 
• Think of potential obstacles. Once you land on what your specific resolutions are, starting brainstorming obstacles that might prevent you from achieving your goals. In the example above, there might be some months that are busier than others and you don't have time to try a completely new recipe. Apply that line of thinking to your own resolutions so you can come up with a game plan for getting through obstacles when they present themselves. 
• Set up a method of accountability. You also need to decide how you're going to hold yourself accountable for achieving your resolutions. If you decide to use a friend, ask them to check in on you every month to see how your progress is going. If you decide to rely on yourself, consider setting a year-long plan with monthly milestones and then write those milestones down in your calendar. You could even set a small reward you get when you accomplish those monthly milestones. 
• Stay flexible. Finally, remember that it's okay to modify your resolutions when you need to. We all know that life gets in the way and can hinder your progress. If an obstacle presents itself, reassess what you think is actually possible and modify your resolutions accordingly. Be kind to yourself throughout the entire process—it's not a failure to make slight changes to your goals. 

What Are The Top Ten Most Popular New Year's Resolutions?

If you're struggling to come up with your own resolutions, it can be helpful to turn to others for inspiration. You could ask your friends and family what their resolutions are. We also conducted our own research to see what the most popular resolutions are to offer some additional inspiration.

These are the top ten most popular New Year's resolutions from our own research: 

1. Save Money. In the various articles we read about New Year's resolutions, saving money was consistently on the list. This could mean coming up with a budget tracking system that actually works. It could also mean committing to making coffee at home instead of buying it. 
2. Exercise More. Exercise also came up in quite a few lists. It's important to be realistic about what exercise means to you. A lot of people assume this means joining a gym which doesn't have to be the case. Exercising more could mean doing yoga at home in the mornings or taking daily walks. 
3. Eat Healthier. Eating healthier is also probably a resolution you'll hear a lot from your peers. Eating healthy can sometimes feel like a daunting task, especially if you don't cook a lot or have a set routine in what you like to eat. Start out slow and commit to uncovering a new healthy recipe every month that you can incorporate into your weekly meal rotation. 
4. Get Organized. Getting organized is a very broad resolution that you can easily tailor to your needs. Start by thinking about what aspect of your life you want organized. Are you looking to organize your home? Your office space? Your schedule? Once you decide on what you want organized, come up with smaller goals to achieve your overall goal of getting organized. 
5. Spend time with family and friends. Of this list of popular resolutions, this one is our favorite. Life can get really busy and it can be easy to put your family and friends on the back burner. Whether it's a weekly phone call with your besties or monthly lunches with your family, spending time with the people you love can make you feel more fulfilled and experience joy. 
6. Read more. This resolution can serve quite a few purposes. Reading more can also help you unplug and actually unwind at the end of the day. Take some time to set reading goals, uncover new authors, and explore new genres. If you don't already have one, consider setting up an account with your local library for access to thousands of free books!
7. Try new recipes. You might be thinking this resolution is the same as the eat healthier resolution. The new recipes you try don't have to be "healthy." This would be a great time to try new cuisines and appreciate new cultures. 
8. Join a club and build community. While most of the versions of this resolution were to join a new club, the underlying reality of this resolution tends to be building community. We are becoming increasingly isolated as a society and the need for community is more prevalent as ever. Joining a new club is a great way to build community and uncover new interests. 
9. Learn a new skill or develop a new hobby. While you can definitely do this by joining a club, you can also learn new skills and develop new hobbies on your own. This is another great resolution for minimizing screen time. Think about what you've always wanted to learn and commit to doing that by the end of the year. 
10. Growing in your career. Career growth is another resolution we noticed popping up a lot. Think about what you need to do to grow—is it setting up a meeting with your boss to talk about your goals or expanding your network to grow at a new company?

There are plenty of other popular resolutions to explore if none of the above resonate with you. Resolutions don't always have to be focused on self-improvement either. It's important to set resolutions that spark joy and make you feel more fulfilled. 

Why Do Most Resolutions Fail? 

Now that we've talked about how to set realistic resolutions and hopefully sparked some inspiration, let's talk about why many people fail to complete theirs. 

A faculty member from The Fisher School of Business identified four reasons that hinder people from accomplishing their resolutions each year. It's important to know what might stop you from accomplishing your goals before setting them so you know what you'll be able to actually achieve in the new year:

1. Setting resolutions just for the sake of setting them. The number one reason people fail to accomplish their resolutions is because they set them with no real purpose. There is a certain level of pressure at the start of a new year to set resolutions, however, it's important to remember that you don't actually have to establish New Year's resolutions. If you feel fulfilled in your current life, or don't really believe in resolutions, then you don't have to come up with any!
2. Feeling discouraged when obstacles get in the way. Another common reason that prevents people from accomplishing their goals is feelings of discouragement when obstacles get in the way. Unfortunately, there's nothing you can really do to prevent things from hindering your resolution process. What you can control is how you respond when that happens. That's why it's so important to have a game plan at the beginning of the year that you can implement when obstacles present themselves.
3. Not challenging yourself with your resolutions. Many people also take things easy and set easily attainable resolutions. If you're setting goals that require very little effort from you, you'll end up lacking motivation to complete them at all. It can be tricky, but you have to find a happy medium between unattainable goals and goals that don't challenge you.
4. Lacking accountability. The final reason many people fail to complete their resolutions is a lack of accountability. You really should have some kind of external entity that's holding you accountable for achieving your goals. This would be a good time to find a friend that's also setting resolutions and acting as each other's accountability partners.
   

Again, be kind to yourself throughout the whole process. If you don't end up achieving your resolutions by the end of the year, it's not the end of the world. As long as you make some progress and have the best intentions going into the process, you should feel proud of yourself regardless of what the outcome at the end of the year is. 

Start Setting Realistic 2026 New Year's Resolutions

It's never too early to start thinking about what you want to accomplish in the next year. Hopefully, this post helped you determine what you want your resolutions to be. You got this. You can accomplish anything that you set your mind to. 

Here's to a happy and healthy new year!