5 Ways to Power Through Quitter’s Day

5… 4… 3… 2… 1… and it’s a New Year! Cue the cake, fireworks, and resolutions. Be it quitting drinking, losing weight, saving more, working out more, getting on track with work, or anything in between, setting new goals is a huge part of welcoming the new year. 

An overwhelming number of studies find, however, that 80% of New Year’s resolutions are abandoned in the month of January, with the second Friday in January recognised as the official Quitter’s Day when 40% of resolutions are given up. So how do we stay on track? How do we maintain our new goals? We have compiled a list of five5 ways to ensure that you are able to power through January and succeed in your resolutions:

1. Find your Meaning

When creating your new goals for the year, focus on what is significant to you. Do you really want to train to run a marathon or do you just want to get healthy? Make goals around the areas you are most interested in seeing a change – not just the areas others are focusing on. Another way to ensure your goals are meaningful is by attaching it to someone you love. In doing so, your brain will associate your success with the benefits it will have for this individual and will promote crucial emotional boosts. Based on the results of the Do You Set SMART Goals or HARD Goals? it is clear that individuals with a strong emotional connection to their goals are “anywhere from 1.3 to 1.8 times more likely to successfully accomplish their goals than people with weak connections.”

2. Be Realistic

Avoid making large-scale, intensive goals. According to research done within the US by the University of Scranton, only 8% of the nearly half of Americans that made New Year’s resolutions that year would be successful. It is definitely harder to achieve a huge goal than a smaller one. If you do find yourself attempting to achieve something large, break it into smaller pieces. Instead of focusing on losing 100 pounds, focus on eating healthy for 30 days. Achieving the 30 days will not only result in weight loss, but will also improve your mindset and end up preparing you for your larger goals.

3. Habits, habits, habits!

A study conducted by Strava, the social network for athletes, found that approximately 80% of the people who made New Year’s resolutions gave up by the second week of February, most of the quitting by the second week of January. The difficulty of your goal is nowhere as important as the habits that you use to achieve it. If you are able to attach your resolution to pre-existing habits, the energy and effort you need to devote will be smaller. Focus on shifting bad habits into good ones – the small changes will make the largest difference. If your goal is to move up in your company, focus your attention on your productivity skills. Replace bad habits of not writing tasks down, for example, with a positive habit such as making use of a daily planner. In the long run, it is not your motivation that will push you to succeed, but rather the consistency with which you keep your habits.

4. Keep Track 

“While you are waiting for the long-term rewards of your efforts to accumulate, you need a reason to stick with it in the short-term, you need some immediate feedback that shows you are on the right path.” 

James Clear, the author of the highly-acclaimed Atomic Habits, speaks on the importance of measuring your progress. By keeping a log or taking progress photos, you will be able to see the small changes that would otherwise go unnoticed. These are the changes, the shifts, that will continue to push you in the direction of success. 

5. Accept the Bad with the Good

Not everyday will be productive, organiszed, or go to plan. There will be days where you don’t get the kids to school on time and miss your gym session, days where you work late and don’t make it to the grocery store to buy something healthy, and days where you find yourself in a slump and cross very little off your to-do list. It is important that you accept these days and don’t let them affect your overall progress. Good, strong habits are difficult to make and easy to break. Don’t be too hard on yourself and instead use the rest you receive to fuel your motivation to succeed tomorrow.

In the coming year, choose resolutions that will stick. In 2021, statistics from the Journal of Clinical Psychology, found that after 6 months, 46% of people who make a resolution are still successful in keeping it. This statistic seem discouraging but, in comparison to the success rate of those who do not set a resolution – 4% – offers encouragement. Choosing to make goals that will break bad habits and form new, stronger ones. Choose changes that will improve your day-to-day life. By celebrating the small victories and staying consistent, you will break free from the 80% and come out of it stronger.

RewardDays is a habit tracker with a difference. We provide exclusive deals for people who complete consecutive days without their bad habits. Users can track their days off and we provide a road map of milestone rewards such as discount codes, vouchers, and more from recommended partners. Download the app for free and begin your rewards journey today by giving something up and getting something back.