How can we keep the 'fresh start effect' without losing passion midway?

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Author, Melissa Hogenboom Role, BBC

Published 1 hour ago

Reading time: 6 minutes

Psychologists say that beginnings, whether it's the start of a year, a week, or a birthday, have a motivational power to change behaviors and pursue goals.

Often we start the new year with good intentions, but soon many commitments prevent us from achieving our goals; life's demands are many, and starting something often means stopping something else.

If the resolutions you made at the start of the year have faded, do not despair and know that you are not alone.

As research shows, motivating oneself to set new goals and develop habits that help achieve those goals is an effective way to change at any time.

So how do we make resolutions that last? Several experts emphasize the importance of leveraging the so-called 'fresh start effect,' along with developing good habits and setting realistic goals.

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Often many New Year's resolutions end in frustration; people do not achieve their goals - a rate that some studies put at 92 percent.

But this percentage is 'misleading' according to Katy Milkman, professor of behavioral economics at the University of Pennsylvania, who believes that because so many people try to change at the same time, it makes the failure rate appear higher than it actually is.

A new US survey found that 87 percent of those who made these resolutions maintained them for a few weeks, while 13 percent could not even last a week.

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Meanwhile, a British survey found that 38 percent of citizens were able to keep their resolutions made in 2025, while 33 percent managed to keep only some of them.

From these two surveys, researcher Milkman concluded that 'a goal with a time anchor has amazing effectiveness.'

But you don't necessarily need New Year celebrations to benefit from this advantage; rather, mid-year, the start of a week, a birthday, or any date that means something to you can be a good time to start and take advantage of the 'fresh start effect.'

Image caption, New Year's resolutions have gained a bad reputation, but timing can be a powerful influence

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Referring to websites specialized in goal setting, Milkman found that searches for 'diets' and 'gyms' increase at specific times, such as the start of the week, the start of the month, or the start of a new semester.

And you can determine for yourself the time you want to start changing your behaviors, instead of waiting for a specific time.

Milkman believed that choosing a 'special' day as the start of a new period (like the first day of spring, for example) instead of a random start (like the beginning of the week) can increase motivation and make people more driven to achieve their goals.

Also, choosing a day to associate with the new commitment can help disconnect from the past, including its failed experiences.

Milkman says: 'In these moments when we feel new beginnings, we feel that we are disconnected from our past, that a chapter has ended and a new one begins.'

While the 'fresh start effect' helps in launching toward a new goal, 'forming positive habits' is an essential part of continuing to pursue our goals.

Benjamin Gardner, professor of psychology at the University of Surrey, says that while achieving goals requires conscious and continuous effort, habits, on the contrary, tend to occur without much thought; the advantage of a habit is that it does not require ongoing 'willpower.'

'Habits exist to help us do the things we need repeatedly, without having to think,' according to Gardner.

But forming a good habit itself requires perseverance and consistency; the behavior needs to be repeated for an average of 66 days to become a habit, although this time frame ranges between 18 and 265 days depending on the intended habit.

Regular exercise, for example, takes about six months to become a daily routine.

Image caption, There are many times when we can renew our commitment to the resolutions we made at the start of the new year

Choosing simple goals can also help achieve those goals.

A study tracking participants trying to form a new daily habit - such as jogging, eating fruit, or doing push-ups - found that simple behaviors like drinking a glass of water were easier to turn into habits than more difficult behaviors like doing 50 push-ups.

Equally important, one should get rid of habits that stand in the way of achieving goals - and this is certainly not easy, according to researcher Benjamin Gardner.

But one can use the strategy of replacing old unwanted habits with new good ones.

Gardner says that 'replacing a bad habit with a good one means that after a short time, this person will find themselves doing without thinking the thing they want instead of the one they no longer want.'

This strategy can be very effective; we are naturally more inclined to stick to new habits than to give up habits we want to avoid.

The pleasure is in the journey, not the destination

Goals should be chosen carefully; a recent US study of more than 2,000 people found that participants who were enthusiastic about the daily practices required by their goals were more likely to persevere and continue.

Ayelet Fishbach, professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago, believes that excessive focus on the final outcome can hinder success.

Fishbach recommends looking for something we want to do, not something we want to avoid - which 'requires a degree of self-knowledge.'

Also, understanding the 'surrounding environment effect' is an important first step for those who have the desire but find it difficult to continue pursuing their goals.

Felix Naughton, professor of health psychology at the University of East Anglia, says that 'desire is only one of many elements that determine our behavior, and therefore desire alone is not enough; it is incredibly difficult for a person to quit smoking while their friends smoke, for example.'