It's January 2nd. Have you already broken one of your New Year's resolutions?
It's ok if you have. Apparently, 23% of the people who create these resolutions break them before the end of the first week, and 88% break them before the end of January. So you're not alone, and frankly, you're in good company.
But you didn't create these resolutions to break them; you created them because you wanted real change for a very specific reason. So why do we just throw these resolutions out the door so quickly after we intently created them, wrote them down, and spoke them into existence?
The reason is simple. It's because you lack the greater why behind them and the accountability to create change.
Real change, and real goaling has to be supported by a greater purpose, and if you don't have the purpose to motivate and drive you, then you're going to end up right in the same spot in 2027 that you are today, wishing you had made real change and not wasted the time.
Most resolutions fail because they are written as outcomes rather than commitments.
Lose the weight.
Get the promotion.
Make more money.
Those sound nice, but they do not tell you who you need to become or what you are willing to sacrifice to get there. When motivation fades, and it always does, there is nothing underneath those goals to keep you moving when it gets inconvenient.
Another reason people quit so quickly is that resolutions are usually created in isolation. They live quietly in your head or on a piece of paper that no one else ever sees. There is no friction. No tension. No one is asking you hard questions when you start slipping back into old habits. It is easy to abandon a promise that only you know about, especially when life gets busy again.
There is also an uncomfortable truth most people avoid.
Change requires discomfort, and most resolutions are written with the hope that change will feel good right away.
It rarely does.
Growth feels awkward before it feels rewarding. Progress feels slow before it feels obvious. The moment the process stops matching the fantasy, people convince themselves the goal was unrealistic in the first place.
This is where accountability matters, accountability that forces you to be honest with yourself. Someone who will ask you why you said you wanted this in the first place. Someone who will call out when your actions stop matching your words. Someone who will sit with you in frustration instead of letting you quietly walk away from what you said mattered.
Real change also requires clarity.
Not just what you want, but why it matters now. Why staying the same is no longer acceptable. Why can't this year look like the last one? Without that clarity, resolutions become placeholders for guilt. You tell yourself you tried, even when you know you never fully committed.
January 2nd is not too late.
It is actually the moment where things get real. The excitement has worn off, and the work is staring you in the face. This is the point where you decide whether this year is just another reset you talk about, or the year you finally support your goals with purpose, honesty, and the kind of accountability that leads to actual change.