New Year’s resolutions: 9 practical tips to make them happen by 2025

Resolutions. It’s that time again. Time to look back on the old year and look ahead to the new one. Time to find out that those Christmas kilos are a bit more intense than you thought, that you feel quite lonely during the holidays, that your life is too much characterised by stress and sleeplessness, and that the words ‘passion’ and ‘fulfilment’ are no longer in your vocabulary.

Happy holidays and a happy new year? Didn’t think so. Rather painful holidays and a flawed New Year.

Time for a change. Time to pull out some good intentions again. But this year, we are going to do something completely new. This year, for the first time in our lives, we are finally going to achieve our good intentions.

This article will tell you everything you need to do this. First, we will discuss exactly what resolutions are and where they come from. Then you will get 9 useful and practical tips you can start working on today to increase your chances of success. Then I give you 16 more New Year’s resolutions, in case you are lacking inspiration. And for dessert, some frequently asked questions.

Let’s get started.

What is a new year’s resolution: The meaning of resolutions

According to the Van Dale dictionary, the meaning of ‘resolutions’ is simply ‘having a plan’. And looking at the Dutch encyclopaedia, it means ‘something you want to do’.

But what exactly are ‘resolutions’? The term is often used to refer to goals you set at the beginning of the year. New Year’s Eve is, of course, a time when you start reflecting on the old year, and looking ahead to the new one. You often come to the conclusion that you want to change something in your life. It could be that you want to lose weight, start earning more money or start looking for a new relationship.

In short: resolutions are positive plans for the new year.

Synonym of resolutions

There are numerous synonyms of resolutions. If you only look at the term ‘resolutions’ meant for the new year, you can think of synonyms like ‘New Year’s resolutions’ and ‘New Year’s resolutions’.

If you take the term more broadly, there are many synonyms, such as:

• plans
• goals
• intentions
• strive
• ideals
• wishes
• good intentions
• challenges

New Year’s resolutions

As mentioned, the term ‘resolutions’ is used particularly for the new year. The Christmas holidays are often used as a period for reflection. In other words, you start thinking about the old year and the new year, and then come up with some good resolutions for after the holidays.

If you need inspiration for New Year’s resolutions, you will find an overview of 10 popular resolutions and 6 original bonus options later in this article. You will also immediately discover some practical tips to ensure that you do keep your New Year’s resolutions.

Where do resolutions come from?

The origin of resolutions is often attributed to the Babylonians. They lived about 4,000 years ago in an area stretching from present-day Baghdad to the Persian Gulf. The Babylonians held a 12-day New Year festival every year that they called the Akitu festival. There, they promised their gods that they would repay their debts and return borrowed goods. They did this to keep the gods happy and be allowed to experience a prosperous year themselves.

Thereafter, similar traditions were carried out by other peoples. For instance, the Romans celebrated the New Year in honour of Janus, the god of beginnings and transitions. During that celebration, Romans made promises to improve their behaviour in the new year. Later, people in the Middle Ages were encouraged by their Christian leaders to reflect on their sins and optimise their behaviour on New Year’s Eve.

Keeping good resolutions in 2025: 9 practical tips

It takes you relatively little effort to make good resolutions. You can still do so while devouring a few doughnuts and throwing back a glass of champagne. But how can you make good intentions come true? How do you keep your resolutions?

These are questions that are actually even more important than the resolutions themselves because, as you can read later in the article, research shows that after only 1 month, almost half of people have already given up.

Therefore, below you will find some practical tips that are important if you want to make your good intentions a reality.

1. Start with why

‘Start with why’ is a book by Simon Sinek. The theory behind it is quite simple, but very relevant for fulfilling good intentions. Sinek explains that companies achieve more success if they can explain to their customers why they offer their products and services, instead of just focusing on what they offer and how they offer it. He argues that people don’t buy what you do, but why you do it.

Interesting, but what does this have to do with good intentions? Well, as I pointed out above, it’s easy to come up with a few good intentions. But it’s much harder to figure out why you want them.

A concrete example: suppose you want to lose weight. Simple right? But… why do you want to lose weight? Do you want to because your boyfriend or girlfriend keeps saying you could lose a few kilos? Or because you don’t have a partner right now and want to walk down the beach in the summer with a six-pack? Or because you look in the mirror every day and get sad and angry at what you see? Or because you were walking down the street yesterday and that one man looked at you so disapprovingly?

OK, enough psychology therapy, you get my point. Find out what the underlying reason is for your good intentions. (And ideally dig a little further, because often underneath those reasons lie even deeper reasons that might require some tissues). This way, you find out what motivates you. This can also lead to intrinsic motivation, or in other words: you establish that you are the one who wants to achieve your good intentions, and not your friend, girlfriend, parents, brother, sister, colleague, employer, man on the street, etc. And if you are intrinsically motivated, you are more likely to achieve your goals.

2. Make your goals SMART

You come across the abbreviation SMART everywhere when it comes to setting goals. SMART stands for specific, measurable, acceptable, realistic and time-bound.

Specific means that you formulate your goals clearly and concretely. For instance, ‘I want more love in my life’ is still vague, but ‘I want a new partner who is a good fit for me and who loves me’ is already a lot better. But with the following factors, we can optimise this even further.

Measurable means that you can measure the progress of your goals. For instance, in the example above, you could score your love life right now and at the end of the year, so you can see if progress has actually been made. (You can also fill in a ‘life wheel’ to make this visual.) You could also, for example, make your goal measurable by indicating that you have at least 2 new dates every month until you feel good about someone.

Acceptable is a somewhat trickier term. Here, it comes down to whether all involved accept the goal. If you set up goals for yourself, then this factor is somewhat less important. But if your goals also interface with others around you (such as your partner, friends or colleagues), then it does matter that those other people support the goal.

Realistic means that you can actually implement your good intention. For example, ‘a new date every day’ would be rather difficult (if you can manage it, good for you!), but ‘2 new dates every month’ would already be a lot more achievable.

And time-bound means that it is clear when your goals have to be achieved. In other words, you have a concrete start and end date. When it comes to resolutions, the start date is usually 1 January and the end date is often 31 December, but of course feel free to decide that for yourself.

In short: make sure your goals are SMART. In the case of ‘more love in your life’, this might boil down to: ‘I want a new partner who fits me well and loves me. On 1 January, I fill in a life wheel and rate my love life. On 31 December, I do it again, and see if I have made progress. In the meantime, I do 2 new dates every month until I have a good feeling with someone. Every month I reflect in my journal on how the past love month went.’

3. Positive articulation

Here’s where we can get through it a bit quicker. Make sure you word your good intentions in a positive way. Instead of ‘I want to eat less fast food’, you can say ‘I want to eat healthier’. Or ‘I want a new hobby that gives me pleasure’ instead of ‘I want to game less’. Or ‘I’m going to look critically at my income and expenses every week’ instead of ‘I want to spend less money’.

Research has also shown that this is positive for good intentions.

4. Break them down into smaller milestones

We often make our good intentions very big. From losing 24 kilos in a year to earning an extra 5,000 euros. Make sure you break down these big goals into smaller ones, and link them to certain dates. An example: if you indeed want to lose 24 kilos, make it your goal to lose 2 kilos per month. That will immediately feel less intense. Or if you want to earn an extra 5,000 dollars, try to earn 100 dollars per week. That can be managed just fine with 1 to 5 hours of work.

5. Habit stacking

Habit stacking comes from the book Atomic habits by James Clear. It involves linking a new habit to an existing one, making it easier to stay consistent. A few examples:

• Every day during breakfast, I write down 3 things I am grateful for.
• Every day after brushing my teeth, I look at myself lovingly in the mirror and say ‘I love you’.
• Every day after getting up, I make my bed and do 10 push-ups.
• Every day I take 15 minutes of rest and do absolutely nothing as soon as I get home from work.

6. Visualise and manifest

It can work well to visualise the outcome of your New Year’s resolutions in advance, so you can manifest it faster, in other words, make it a reality. You can do this in many ways. Most importantly, get all your senses involved and feel the feelings you would feel once you have achieved your goal.

Example: you want to lose 24 kilos. Visualise seeing yourself in the mirror, wearing trousers from a year ago that are now way too big, and going to the shop to buy new clothes in your new size. Hear your partner, friends and family say how proud they are of you for managing this. Smell the aroma of the (healthy!) apple pie you baked to celebrate your success. Taste the delicious flavours of that apple pie. And ahead, a dollop of whipped cream to celebrate. Feel that your skin has tightened, that it is much easier to walk up the stairs. And above all, feel the pride in yourself, the joy, the love for yourself, the self-confidence and motivation to keep going.

By the way, Dr Joe Dispenza‘s meditations can work very well for this. Especially the meditations ‘Tuning into new potentials’, but also the ‘Morning & Evening meditations’.

7. Find an accountability partner

This is pretty simple: find someone in your immediate circle with whom you can work together to ensure that both of your goals are met. For example, someone who goes to the gym with you every week because you both want to lose weight. Or someone who also wants to start their own business and also wants to earn an extra 100 dollars a week. Or your partner with whom you sit down every week to come up with healthy dishes.

8. Put financial pressure on it

This is a slightly more extreme measure to make your good intentions succeed. You can consider giving someone you trust a certain amount of money. If you do achieve your goals by a specific date, you get your money back. If you don’t meet your goals, that person will keep the amount or it will be given to charity, for example. Concrete example: you want to lose 24 kilos. You give 500 dollars to your sister. If you achieve your goal before 31 December, you get it back. If not, your sister will use the money to buy luxury jewellery for herself.

Two things: make sure you really trust the person, and that the amount is not too low (because then you won’t care so much), but also not too high (because we don’t want you to have to go through life as a bum because you didn’t achieve your goals).

9. Celebrate your success

Do you know the short movie of the squirrel from Ice Age who, after many years of struggle, finally reaches his big goal and then trudges on as if nothing has happened? Many people do the same in reality. They set a big goal, achieve it and… nothing. On to the next goal.

We may dwell more on the successes in our lives. Especially if those are good intentions that we have achieved. You can then be absolutely extremely proud of yourself. Celebrate it in a way that gives you satisfaction. Whether it’s all-you-can-eat sushi, an extended wellness day or those 500 euro earrings. And of course, you can also celebrate successes in between in a more subdued way. Or just exuberantly anyway. Up to you!

Examples of good intentions: a top 10 list

If you are low on inspiration, below you will find a list of examples of good intentions. First, I give you a list of the most popular resolutions that are used most often. Then you get some bonus options with some original and beautiful resolutions.

1. Sports resolutions

This remains a popular option for many people: the resolution to exercise more. December is of course a month in which you eat and drink a lot during St Nicholas, Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Those kilos have to come off again, so that you can walk on the beach in the summer with a toned body including a six-pack.

That is why many people choose to exercise more. In concrete terms, this can consist of all kinds of options: going to the gym, running, doing home workouts, yoga, pilates, swimming, boxing, football, cycling and so on.

2. Lose weight

This is another of the most common good intentions, for the same reason as above: the extra kilos need to come off. Often, this intention is combined with the sporting resolutions above, and it usually involves dieting as well.

3. Less swearing

Before I started researching the most popular resolutions, I didn’t expect this one to be in it, yet apparently there are a lot of people who think they swear too much and that they should do it less. (Of course, it could also be that their partner, friends or family members have pointed that out potty-mouthed…)

4. More love and a finer relationship

Especially if you are alone a lot during the holidays, due to having no partner, few friends or family, this can be a trigger to look for more love in your life in the new year. Usually this takes the form of a love partner, but these days the term ‘self-love’ has also become increasingly popular. (Self-love, by the way, is also crucial for having a happy relationship. If you love yourself unconditionally first, you can also unconditionally give to and receive from your partner. But that aside).

In addition, many couples want to work on a finer relationship in the new year. For instance, they want to make more time for each other, go on regular date nights or make it all a bit more exciting in the bedroom.

5. Less stress

If you had to choose 1 month when you experience the most stress, chances are you would pick December. Around Sinterklaas, Christmas and New Year a lot of things need to be arranged. Writing poems, making surprises, organising 13-course menus, baking oliebollen (doughnuts), putting up with your family and, of course, making New Year’s resolutions. It is therefore not illogical that people want to experience less stress in the new year.

But apart from the December month, stress also seems to be more present in our lives than decades ago. We are constantly ‘on’, constantly stimulated by our phones and social media, and our workload can also pile up high.

In short: less stress is a popular resolution. But because this is a broad and vague resolution, it is wise to carefully go through the practical tips in this article to greatly increase your chances of success.

6. Give up smoking

Thankfully, we are all smoking less and less, but it is still a hugely popular New Year’s resolution. So popular, in fact, that smokers put this intention on their list of New Year’s resolutions every year. Indeed, for many, it is difficult to get rid of this addiction. But even here, the practical tips above can certainly help.

7. Eat more healthily

After all the St Nicholas sweets, chocolate letters, chocolate bars, ginger nuts, hours of Christmas meals, doughnuts and apple turnovers, many people will start eating healthier in January. It is therefore certainly no surprise that this resolution is on the list. Often, this intention is combined with the above resolutions about exercising more and losing weight, and sometimes also with smoking less.

8. Handle money better and earn more

December is not only a month filled with good food and drink, but also filled with presents for St Nicholas and Christmas, and of course some fireworks. All in all, certainly not a cheap month. For many, this is the reason to start watching the pennies a bit more closely in the new year. This can be shaped by handling your money better, or by earning more.

Of course, you can do the latter in countless ways. Some suggestions:

• You can ask for a pay rise.
• You can consider taking another job where you get paid more.
• It is an option to make your money work for you instead of the other way around, for instance by investing it or lending it for interest.
• You could start your own business, even if it is only for a few hours a week in addition to your regular job, so you can earn an extra few hundred euros a month anyway.
• You could switch completely from employee to entrepreneur, which of course brings more uncertainty on the one hand, but on the other, the option of earning more than with your employer.
• You could go through your house to make a collection of all the things you would like to sell, which could also earn you another nice pocket money.

9. Sustainable good intentions

Sustainability is becoming an increasingly popular term. At the same time, it is a very broad concept, and it is not immediately clear what your life will look like in concrete terms if you have sustainable good intentions.

Therefore, here are some specific resolutions to introduce more sustainability into your life:

• Eat plant-based food more often
• Reduce food waste
• Use reusable products, such as coffee cups, water bottles and shopping bags
• Insulate your home better
• Invest in solar panels
• Switch to green electricity
• Cycle or walk more often instead of taking the scooter or car
• Using public transport more often
• Carpooling or using shared cars
• Buying second-hand items, such as clothes, furniture or books
• Recycle and separate waste more often
• Use less water by taking shorter showers

10. Good intentions at work

There are plenty of good intentions at work too. During the annual moment of reflection under the Christmas tree, many people discover that they are not completely satisfied with their current job, employer or colleagues. Or with their own behaviour or performance.

Here again are some examples that can give you inspiration for good intentions at work:

• Take a course or training to improve your skills
• Solicit feedback from colleagues and managers to grow further
• Be more proactive during meetings
• Setting better boundaries to keep work and private life more separate
• Looking for what would give you more satisfaction in your work
• Looking for other work
• Starting your own business (even if only for a few hours a week)

Original good intentions for 2025: 6 great new year resolution ideas

That was the top 10 list of the most popular resolutions. To get you started a little further, below are some other fun ideas for the new year.

1. Discover who you are and what your passion is

More and more people want to find out who they are and what they actually come here to do in the world. They have lost their sense of fulfilment. They often experience stress, don’t feel completely comfortable in their skin, and suffer from a lot of fatigue.

In situations like that, the new year is the perfect time to finally find your passion. This way, you can rediscover yourself and find out what your unique contribution is in this life.

2. Starting your own business

Many people get stuck in their jobs or are not completely satisfied with them. Again, a piece of passion for work is often missing. You can regain that by starting something for yourself. And this can already be very small, for instance by working a few hours every week on something you do enjoy. Once you have discovered what your passions are, you can start looking for work or hobbies that match them.

3. Learning a new language

Personally, I think everyone should live in another country at least once in their life for a longer period of time. That way, you discover new cultures and new ways of seeing things, which can broaden your outlook. A wonderful preparation for this is learning a new language, so that you can at least make yourself understood in the country you would like to visit. Some apps to get started with this are DuoLingo and Memrise.

4. Find a new hobby

If you feel like you have lost your passion a bit, it might also be a nice idea to find a new hobby that you can do alone or with others. Below I give you some more ideas to inspire you:

• Painting or drawing
• Taking photos or making videos
• Pottery
• Pointillism (look it up!)
• Learning to play an instrument
• Take dancing lessons
• Learning a new sport, such as boxing, judo, yoga, pilates, wall climbing or supping
• Vegetable gardening
• Making candles or soap
• Learning to use ChatGPT
• Learning to create AI graphics with Midjourney or DALL-E
• Model building

5. Making a vision board

What can also be a very creative hobby is making a vision board. At the same time, this is very useful for carrying out and achieving your good intentions, or to manifest certain things in your life. In short, a vision board is a collection of pictures and texts that fit a certain theme. I’ll give you a few concrete examples so you have a clearer picture:

• An A3 sheet with magazine clippings that are about your dream home, including matching words and inspirational quotes (and ahead, stickers for those who love them).
• An online vision board on Canva with your own photos, images from the internet or pictures you have taken with AI, all having to do with your perfect partner.
• A canvas of snippets and words about your ultimate dream job.

6. Do or make something creative

If you are a creative person, then of course it can also be fun to shape your creativity more this year. There are of course countless ideas for this, and if you are creative, you won’t need much inspiration. Still, here are a few ideas for you:

• Handlettering, calligraphy or pointillism
• Creating digital art
• Creating AI graphics
• Writing a book or short stories
• Making your own jewelry
• Learning to knit, crochet or embroider
• Making your own furniture (IKEA doesn’t count!)
• Write and record songs, raps or spoken words
• Take improvisation classes
• Coming up with new recipes and compiling them into a recipe book

Well, that was my top 10, including some bonus options. I’m very curious: what are your good intentions? Take a moment, write them down, share them with others and then don’t forget to go through the practical tips so you will actually achieve your resolutions.

Quotes about resolutions

Whether it’s for your vision board, or just because you like it: I went looking for some inspiring quotes related to good intentions. These are them:

• “Every new year offers a blank canvas; it’s up to you to paint the masterpiece.” – Anonymous
• “The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself.” – Peter Drucker
• “A goal without a plan is only a wish.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
• “Making a small step forward is still better than standing still.” – Anonymous
• “If you know where you want to go, every step is progress.” – Confucius
• “Motivation gets you going, but habits keep you moving.” – Jim Ryun
• “Change is difficult in the beginning, messy in the middle and beautiful at the end.” – Robin Sharma
• “The best investment you can make is in yourself.” – Warren Buffett
• “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” – Samuel Johnson

(That last one, by the way, means that while you can have good intentions, you also need the decisiveness to carry them out. Around New Year’s Eve, we think of good intentions en masse, but in the end many of them are not carried out when you look back a year later, as we will see now).

how long do new year’s resolutions last?

Of course, it is difficult to determine exactly how long people keep their good resolutions, but believe it or not, there has been research done on good intentions. For that study, 200 people were tracked who had set New Year’s resolutions. Those goals included losing weight, quitting smoking and having a better relationship.

The results were interesting:

• After 1 week into the new year, 77% had kept their New Year’s resolutions. In other words, almost a quarter of people could not muster the decisiveness to keep their good resolutions for a week.
• After 1 month, 55% of participants reported that they were still keeping their New Year’s resolutions. So almost half had already given up.
• After 3 months the percentage dropped to 43% and after 6 months it dropped to 40%. I personally found these figures most interesting, because the difference between 1 month and 3 months is relatively low, and the difference between 3 months and 6 months is almost zero. So that would mean that once you have kept your good intentions for at least 1 month, chances are you can keep them for at least 6 months. So focus your energy on that first month to build consistency!
• After 2 years, the percentage had dropped to 19%. In other words, about half of the people gave up between 6 months and 2 years.

Why do resolutions fail?

The reasons why good resolutions fail are endless. But to give you an idea, here’s a list of common reasons:

• Your goals are not specific enough.
• You haven’t created a concrete action plan to achieve your goal.
• Your goal is way too ambitious.
• You expect quick results and get discouraged when that turns out not to be the reality.
• Your goal is based on what others want, rather than your own intrinsic motivation.
• The underlying reason for your good intention is not clear.
• There is no routine or structure to sustain the changes.
• The environment (partner, friends, family) does not support your goals.
• You have too many goals at once.
• You don’t have enough time (or rather, you don’t prioritize your goals).
• You don’t reflect weekly or monthly on the progress of your resolutions.

Plenty of reasons, in other words. But the good thing is that you can turn these reasons into insights and action points that can help you achieve your resolutions. In other words: make a limited number of specific, realistic, self-devised, well-founded resolutions with a concrete and structured plan for action and reflection, prioritize them and be patient.

Happy holidays and a happy new year! Let’s make some great things happen coming year 🙂