Why 92% of New Year's resolutions fail

Hey there,

Only 8% of people keep their New Year's resolutions.

That means 92% fail. Every year. The same cycle.

January 1st: "This is my year. I'm going to lose weight, build a business, get in shape, finally start that thing."

January 15th: Motivation fades. You skip a day. Then two.

February 1st: The resolution is dead. "I'll try again next year."

Sound familiar?

Here's why this happens: you're setting goals instead of building systems.

And there's a massive difference between the two.

Goals vs. Systems

A goal is an outcome you want. "I want to lose 20 pounds." "I want to make $10k a month." "I want abs."

A system is the process that gets you there. The daily actions. The habits. The structure.

Most people focus on the goal. They visualize the outcome. They get excited about it. Then they wait for motivation to carry them there.

But motivation fades. It always does.

Systems don't rely on motivation. They work whether you feel like it or not.

Here's the brutal truth: if you only have goals and no systems, you'll spend 2026 the same way you spent 2025.

Thinking about change. Not actually changing.

The System That Actually Works

I'm not going to lie to you. This isn't sexy. It's not a life hack. It's not a quick fix.

It's a system. And systems work when you work them.

Here's how to build one:

1. Don't start with goals. Start with what excites you.

Most people set goals like "I want to be a millionaire."

But why? What would that actually give you?

The ability to travel for three months? Time with your family? Freedom to work from anywhere?

Get specific about what would actually make your life better. Not what sounds impressive. What would genuinely excite you.

Because if the goal doesn't excite you enough to get out of bed in the morning, you won't do the work when it gets hard.

2. Pick three big goals. Health, wealth, purpose.

Not ten goals. Three.

One for your body. One for your income. One for your meaning.

Why three? Because if you have ten priorities, you have zero priorities.

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.

For me this year: post two videos a week on YouTube, maintain my health through consistent training, build something meaningful with Elevenstoic.

Three goals. Clear. Specific. Exciting enough to matter.

3. Break them into 90-day sprints.

A year is too long. You'll procrastinate. "I'll work hard later."

90 days is short enough to create urgency. Long enough to make real progress.

Take your yearly goal. Divide by four. That's your 90-day target.

If you want to gain 70,000 YouTube subscribers this year, you need 17,500 per quarter.

If you want to lose 40 pounds this year, you need to lose 10 pounds per quarter.

Break the year into quarters. Then break quarters into weeks. Then weeks into days.

Suddenly, the massive goal becomes a daily action.

4. Make weekly plans with one main priority.

Every week should have one thing that if you complete it, the week was a success.

For me: two videos posted. That's the priority. Everything else is secondary.

If it's a fitness goal: three gym sessions. That's the main thing.

One priority. Not five. One.

If you hit it every week for 12 weeks, you've had a successful quarter. Stack four successful quarters, you've had a life-changing year.

5. Track daily actions, not just outcomes.

You can't control if the video goes viral. You can't control if you lose exactly two pounds this week.

But you can control if you show up and do the work.

Track the actions. Did you go to the gym? Did you eat within your calorie target? Did you create the content?

The outcomes will follow if you stack the actions consistently.

The Five Habits That Actually Change Your Life

Systems are built on habits. Here are the five that made the biggest difference:

Daily wins.

Write down one win every day. One sentence. One moment where you did something right.

Sounds basic. But it rewires your brain to see yourself as a winner.

After a year of doing this, you'll have 365 pieces of evidence that you're the kind of person who makes progress.

Journaling.

Not every day. But 2-4 times a week. For 5-15 minutes.

Ask yourself the hard questions. Where am I going? What do I actually want? Am I moving toward it or away from it?

Journaling creates the space to think clearly. To zoom out. To course-correct before you waste months going the wrong direction.

Move your body.

20 minutes of exercise can improve your mood for up to 12 hours.

You don't need to train for a marathon. Just move. Walk. Lift. Run. Anything.

Win the morning, win the day. It's real.

Talk to strangers.

One conversation can change your entire trajectory.

Go to events. Join run clubs. Talk to people at coffee shops.

Human connection is a skill. And most people are terrible at it. If you can actually listen and connect, you'll go further than 90% of people.

Cut the noise.

Delete social media apps. Especially short-form content.

TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts. They give you fake dopamine. They fry your attention span. They make you compare your real life to everyone else's highlight reel.

Every successful period of my life has one thing in common: I wasn't consuming short-form content.

When I left my job at 24, I had deleted all social media. No Instagram. No YouTube. Just podcasts and audiobooks.

Three years of focus. That's all it took to build freedom for the rest of my life.

The Cost of Change

Here's what no one tells you about New Year's resolutions: change has a cost.

If you want abs, the cost is diet and exercise. Consistently. For months.

If you want a successful business, the cost is hundreds of hours of work. Probably years.

If you want freedom, the cost is saying no to distractions and yes to focused effort.

Everything you want has a price. And if you're not willing to pay it, stop complaining about not having it.

The question isn't "Do I want this?" The question is "Am I willing to pay the cost?"

Most people aren't. They want the outcome without the work.

That's why 92% fail.

But you don't have to be most people.

What Actually Changes Your Life

Small things done consistently toward a specific goal.

That's it. That's the secret.

Not motivation. Not inspiration. Not perfect circumstances.

Just showing up. Every day. For months. For years.

Tracking your progress. Adjusting when something doesn't work. Staying focused on the main thing.

It took me three years of this system to leave my job, buy my dream house, and build the life I actually wanted.

Not overnight. Not from one viral moment. From daily actions stacked over time.

You could go as hard as you want for the next month. Nothing will happen.

But do this for two years? Everything changes.

TAKEAWAYS:

• 92% of resolutions fail because people set goals without systems

• Goals are outcomes you want. Systems are the processes that get you there.

• Pick three big goals: health, wealth, purpose. Not ten. Three.

• Break yearly goals into 90-day sprints. Then weeks. Then daily actions.

• Track actions, not just outcomes. You control the work, not the results.

• Daily wins rewire your brain to see yourself as someone who makes progress

• Journaling creates space to think clearly and course-correct

• Moving your body improves your mood for up to 12 hours

• Talking to strangers builds connection skills most people lack

• Cutting social media (especially short-form) protects your focus and attention

• Every goal has a cost. If you're not willing to pay it, stop wanting the outcome.

• Change happens through small actions done consistently over time

P.S. 2026 can be different. But only if you stop setting resolutions and start building systems. The choice is simple: keep doing what you've been doing and get the same results, or commit to a system and actually change.

We've been working on something. The biggest thing Elevenstoic has ever built. Something that will change how you experience every single day. It's coming soon. And when it drops, you'll understand why we've been so quiet about it.

Just one life. Don't waste another year planning instead of building.

Just one life,

Elevenstoic