The Trouble with New Year Resolutions

And Corporate Strategy .... 

Well, here we are, almost half way through January already.  That means that if you were one of the roughly 40% of people that make New Year Resolutions, there's a 1 in 4 chance that you have given up on your resolution already, and by the end of January, there's a 50% chance you will have given up.  If you stick it out past the end of the month, then you are likely to go much further - but still only about 10% of people stick with their resolutions till the end of the year. 

The Connection with Corporate Strategy

There is actually a great similarity between New Year resolutions and setting company strategic goals - they  are both types of strategic thinking, and both are done by people.   And like New Year resolutions, a large proportion of strategic initiatives fail, or at least fail to achieve useful outcomes.   So what are the shared causes of failure: 

Unclear or unrealistic goals:

• Vague aims like 'get fit' or 'save money' are hard to translate into daily actions, and unrealistic targets quickly feel impossible.  This makes progress difficult to see, so motivation drops quickly when early effort does not match high expectations.
• Companies often have too many priorities and unclear objectives, which creates cognitive overload and 'execution gaps'; people - including executives - realistically handle only a few strategic priorities at once.  Too many initiatives and action items cause decision paralysis and weak follow‑through. 

No bridge from intention to action - lack of concrete planning and tracking:

• Many people set an outcome, such as 'lose 10 kg' or 'increase market share', but do not specify the mechanism for achieving it. What are the new behaviours needed, when, how often, or how they will monitor progress?
• Without process, easy repeatable habits, and some accountability, old routines simply reassert themselves once early enthusiasm fades. 

Underestimating execution complexity:

• Analyses of failed strategies indicates that leaders underestimate how hard implementation will be and lack structured processes to turn strategy into behaviour.
• Individuals similarly underestimate friction (time, energy, social environment); they expect willpower to be enough, and abandon their resolution when reality bites. 

Brain’s bias toward existing habits:

• Forming new habits means building new neural pathways while competing against well‑entrenched old ones, which the brain prefers because they are efficient and automatic.
• That makes sustained change effortful at first; if rewards are delayed or intermittent (you don't get fit or lose a kg or 2 overnight), motivation systems quieten down and people revert to familiar patterns. 

Motivation and emotional factors:

• The New Year brings a short‑lived burst of motivation; but as daily stress returns, that temporary high disappears and resolutions lose priority.
• Cognitive biases (like optimism bias) lead people to underestimate how hard change will be, while fears, self‑doubt, or 'all‑or‑nothing' thinking can trigger self‑sabotage after small set-backs. 

A Helpful Checklist

Here's a checklist to help give you a fighting chance to succeed with your resolutions - or corporate strategy:

• Is the goal / resolution specific, challenging, and clearly relevant?
• Have you limited the number of priorities to what can actually receive your focus?
• Have you translated outcomes into concrete implementation intentions, actions, and routines?
• Is there visible feedback, way of checking realistic progress, and a cadence of review and adjustment?
• Do motivation, capability, and environment actually support the goal, rather than fight it?

When those elements are present, New Year resolutions start to look like disciplined personal strategy execution rather than hopeful wishes, and organisational strategy starts to behave more like a set of lived habits than a document on a shelf. 

And Me?

I don't do New Year Resolutions. I certainly take the Holiday period as good time to reflect and rethink life, the universe and everything, but I resolve to do something as the need or urge arises - whenever that is during the year.  And also, sometimes, some things don't need an actual explicit goal - just a change in behaviour (such as I will go for a walk every day) with the knowledge that it will have a positive outcome over time - this keeps it cognitively simple - I can always add a challenging walking goal at some point in the future. 

And So ...

Have a great 2026, and may all your resolutions and strategic intentions be realised.  

Ad Futurum 

Graham