New year, new aspirations—but how do you actually make those New Year’s resolutions stick? Some research has shown that only 9% of people make good on their fitness goals and a whopping 43% quit their lofty ambitions by the end of January. That’s grim, but it’s not going to be how 2025 ends for you. We’ve compiled a list of research-backed, PT-approved mental habits that could mean the difference between a woeful year and a winning year.
1. Upgrade Your Environment
Your mood will have a huge impact on your ability to show up at the gym day in and day out. So, before you start shifting tin, make sure you’re priming yourself with some heavy lifting throughout the day.
If you’re working from home, make sure you’re lapping up adequate sunlight. Not only will minutes in the rays help improve your sleeping patterns, but research has also shown that regular sun exposure can give you a lift—helping you feel calmer and more focused. BYU researchers found that people tend to experience mental health issues during the colder, darker seasons. On the flip side, we’re far more likely to feel good on sunny days. Bottom line: switching your WFH setup to a sunbathed spot could do wonders for your motivation levels and overall happiness.
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Other ways to keep the inspo flowing throughout the day include:
- Watch a Short YouTube Video: And make it a funny one. Turns out that a daily dose of laughter can give us a quick lift when our reserves are tanked.
- Tidy Up Your Desk: While some studies have shown that a messy workspace can spike creativity, taking time to declutter your desktop may help boost your mood. A 2016 study found that clutter can affect your ability to experience pleasure—and that applies to your office, home office and even your bedroom.
- Find Your Purpose: Without purpose during the day, you’ll struggle to find any purpose in your workouts. People who are engaged with every aspect of their lives tend to identify the meaning behind all their pursuits, according to recent research. Finding your “why” can be as simple as asking yourself a few meaningful questions, i.e., what’s the bigger picture for today’s efforts?
2. Find a Teammate
If a Lonewolf approach to your workouts hasn’t been paying dividends, it could help to buddy up in the new year. A study published in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine found that tagging in a workout partner can help keep you accountable and force you to push harder with every rep. If your friends are veteran couch potatoes, it may be worth scoping out a few local CrossFit boxes, Yoga studios or running groups. These group sweat sessions will give you access to a bevy of like-minded individuals who will, according to science, help keep you showing up and giving it all every damn day.
3. Focus on the Short-Term
While understanding the big picture is important to finding your purpose, keeping your eyes on the short-term risks and rewards is a massive motivator. After all, you’ll need to find ways to combat that deeply entrenched urge to procrastinate if you want your fitness goals to stick—otherwise your routine of binging Netflix will take precedence.
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In one study, university students were asked to view one of two PSAs listing all the reasons to avoid knocking back energy drinks. The first ad underscored the long-term consequences of sipping on these cans (Obesity and diabetes) while the other highlighted the short-term risks (caffeine crashes, stress and excess calories). Afterwards, students were offered an energy drink or a prize. The result? Those who were educated on the short-term risks were 25% less likely to opt for the can.
The lesson: thinking about the immediate negatives of an unhealthy mental habit (or the rewards of hitting the gym) can be a powerful inspiration. While it’s important to have long-term goals, it seems that it might be more productive to view your daily efforts in isolation.
4. Set Goals for Each Workout
If you’re one of those guys who shows up at the gym and wanders aimlessly from one machine to the next—you’re not alone. We all get told to work out, but rarely are we given a blueprint on exactly what we should be doing. While your overall goal might be to slim down, add muscle or keep your heart healthy, these grandiose objectives are only achievable by hitting hundreds of milestones along the way.
We’ve chatted to plenty of PTs and fitness influencers here at MH, and one motto that stands out is showing up for your workouts with miniature goals in mind. If you’re lifting, try to aim to beat your one rep max. Calisthenics? Can you squeeze out an extra pull-up at the end of each set? Or, if you’re heating the tarmac, you could shoot to beat your time up a particularly sharp incline.
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Chasing these minor milestones does two things. Firstly, you’ll feel rewarded at the close of every session, rather than just at the end of your fitness journey. Secondly, these goals will help you push harder so that you won’t ever stagnate or stop challenging yourself.
5. Create a Killer Playlist
A report published in Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport found that there’s a strong connection between the tempo of your music and the intensity of your reps. In other words, those cranking out their session to high-tempo tracks were more likely to exercise for longer and with a bit more oomph.
Drum & Bass is an offshoot of EDM and features high-octane tracks that’ll roar through your ears at between 160bpm and 180bpm. We like this breakneck-paced playlist on Spotify. Maybe save the slow rock ballads for your cooldown.
6. Avoid the “All or Nothing” Approach
Perfect is the enemy of getting it done. This is especially true if you’re just starting. You’ll struggle, you’ll have bad sessions and it’ll take you longer to hit your goals than you would like. In her book How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You to Be (great read!), author Katy Milkman researched the difference between flexible and rigid habits and routines.
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Milkman told the Washington Post that guys who were more flexible with their timing were more likely to stick to their plans than those in the rigid camp. “We basically find that rigid habits are a problem,” she told the publication. Ultimately, those who allow for more variability in their daily routines are far more likely to build an exercise habit because even when life throws them a curveball (or two) they will usually still hit up the gym.
Bottom line: you don’t need a perfect session at exactly the right time, you just need to show up.
7. Keep It Simple
Most guys bow out of their New Year’s resolutions within a few months. The problem is that achieving just one goal takes some serious effort, and we have a mental habit of overpopulating our lists when the year is still fresh and young. Ultimately, when you’re falling short on not just one goal, but three, it’s clear that you’ll benefit from paring down your ambitions.
Many PTs recommend focusing on just one primary goal. Do you want to lose weight? That’s it; write it down and stick to it. Want to enter a marathon—that’s your resolution sorted. And then simplify that goal even further. If you know that a diet of cool drinks is contributing to your dad bod, your priority should be to cut out these sugary beverages. And if you’re chasing a new PB, it might help to just focus on increasing your distance by a small margin every run.
8. Track Your Workouts
A big part of sticking to your fitness goals is making space to celebrate your wins. And if you’re not keeping detailed records of every weight shifted, you’ll struggle to identify your victories. Thankfully, with access to an overabundance of smartwatches and apps, it’s easier than ever to get an overview of every digit. We recommend being diligent about noting down your times, reps, weight lifted, etc.
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An analysis of 28 different studies found that those using digital physical-activity aids to track their efforts were logging just under 2,000 more steps than those exercising sans tech. Those are some serious gains that more than justify the asking price of most smartwatches.
9. Embrace Competition
Competing against others can fuel some serious feats of strength. A 2019 study looked into the effects of competition on helping individuals hit their fitness goals and it’s immediately clear that a friendly bout might be exactly what your New Year’s resolutions ordered. As part of the study, researchers tracked the activities of 602 overweight or obese people using fitness trackers and found that those who entered a competition game were able to snag the biggest increases in their daily step counts.
10. Aim Small
If you haven’t mustered up the motivation to tackle a gargantuan two-hour session at the gym, it might help to log a micro workout instead. Yes, even if that just means just taking a five-minute stroll. This principle plays into the concept of the “minimum viable action”, an approach that asks you to identify the smallest and easiest action you can take right now to help a new mental habit form.
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While a 10-minute jog might not feel like much, this first foray into fitness will open the door to great feats of strength. Alternatively, if you’re not in the mood to spend 45 minutes at the gym, just force yourself to walk through the doors. Chances are, once you’re there, you’ll probably log enough reps to fill that impossible 45-minute window.
11. Try New Things
You should never feel like you’re locked into a particular style of working out. If powerlifting isn’t your thing, don’t be scared to swap your reps for a few extra Padel sessions in the new year. Ultimately, you want to find something you enjoy as getting pleasure from your workouts is the one concrete way to ensure you show up without fail. In an interview with Better by Today, PT and CEO of Step It Up with Steph Stephanie Mansour says: “Clients come to me all the time saying they’re busting their butt in the gym for weeks and months, but not seeing any results. If something isn’t working for you, try something new. Think about what your body actually needs. It’s okay to make changes if something isn’t working for you.”
