Why New Year’s Resolutions Don’t Work—and What to Do Instead
Every January, we’re told this is the moment to reset, reinvent, and finally “get it together.”
New goals.
New routines.
New rules.
And yet, by February, most New Year’s resolutions have already fallen apart.
This isn’t because people are lazy, undisciplined, or unmotivated. It’s because the traditional idea of a New Year’s resolution is fundamentally flawed—especially in midlife.
If you’ve struggled to stick with resolutions in the past, this isn’t a personal failure. It’s a sign that the approach doesn’t fit your real life.
Why New Year’s Resolutions So Often Fail
1. They’re built on pressure, not self-awareness
Many resolutions are rooted in guilt, comparison, or a belief that we need to “fix” ourselves. They’re based on who we think we should be, not who we actually are right now.
When change starts from pressure, it rarely lasts.
2. They ask for too much, too fast
Extreme changes—cutting out entire food groups, committing to intense workout schedules, overhauling daily routines—ignore the realities of stress, energy, hormones, and responsibilities.
Your body doesn’t adapt well to force. Especially when it’s already tired.
3. They ignore the foundation
Trying to optimize health without addressing basics like sleep, nourishment, stress, and gentle movement is like trying to build a house without a solid base. Eventually, something gives. For many people, this is where metabolic health begins to suffer—energy drops, inflammation increases, and the stress response stays switched on.
This is one of the most common patterns I see in my work—people doing “all the right things” while skipping the very foundations that support resilience and metabolic health.
4. They rely on all-or-nothing thinking
Miss a day? Have an off week? Many people decide they’ve “failed” and quit entirely. Sustainable change doesn’t work that way. It’s flexible, adaptive, and imperfect by design.
What Not to Do When Making a Resolution
If you’re approaching a new year—or any season of change—here’s what tends to backfire:
Setting goals based on guilt or punishment
Copying someone else’s routine without considering your own lifestyle.
Trying to change everything at once
Ignoring your current stress load and capacity
Expecting it to look perfect
Your body and nervous system need support—not force, especially if your not in your 20’s anymore.
The Importance of Meeting Yourself Where You Are
One of the most overlooked parts of lasting change is capacity. What do I even mean by this? Your energy, time, stress levels, sleep quality, hormone shifts, work demands, and caregiving responsibilities all matter. What worked in your 20s is not realistic—or even healthy for you now.
Meeting yourself where you are means asking yourself a few question:
What can I realistically support right now?
What feels nourishing instead of overwhelming?
Where does my foundation feel shaky?
This isn’t about lowering standards.
It’s about creating change that actually sticks.
Intentional Change vs. New Year’s Resolutions
Instead of making resolutions, consider focusing on intentional change. This is where we create small, doable changes that come from building awareness in what your body needs instead of the “all or nothing” pressure. You want to build these changes on a solid foundation and focus on consistency over intensity. And maybe most importantly, we need to be flexible enough to adapt to real life. Often, the most effective approach is identifying the one thing that would make everything else feel a little easier—and starting there. Not because it fixes everything, but because it strengthens the foundation everything else rests on.
For example:
Instead of “I’m working out five days a week,” try
→ “I’m moving my body for 10 minutes after lunch.”
Instead of “I’m cutting out sugar,” try
→ “I’m adding protein to my breakfast.”
Instead of “I need a full reset,” try
→ “I’m strengthening my foundation.”
These shifts may seem simple—but they’re powerful.
Start With Your Foundation
Sustainable health isn’t built on motivation alone. It’s built on foundations—sleep, nourishment, movement, stress regulation, and daily habits that support your body rather than fight it. When these foundations are nurtured, the body has the capacity to regain balance and resilience naturally.
If you’re not sure where to begin, that uncertainty is understandable. Most people were never taught how to assess their foundation—only how to push harder when things feel off.
An Invitation to Start Gently
If this resonates, and you’re craving a different approach as you move into the new year, I created The Rooted Habits Challenge as a gentle place to begin.
It’s a supportive experience designed to help you understand what your body is asking for
And to identify where your foundation needs support.
This isn’t a reset.
It’s not a diet or a workout plan.
It’s an opportunity to nurture and strengthen your metabolic health—one grounded step at a time.
You don’t need a new version of yourself this year; you need support for the version of yourself you already are. And you can start—right where you are because it’s designed to help you meet your body where it is, strengthen your foundations, one supportive habit at a time.
You can learn more about it here.
However you choose to move forward, know this: meaningful change doesn’t come from pushing harder or starting over. It comes from listening, supporting your body, and taking small steps that build resilience over time. There’s no rush and no right timeline — only the next gentle step that feels possible for you.