New Year’s Resolutions Statistics (2024) – Forbes Health

A new survey from Forbes Health/OnePoll of 1,000 U.S. adults (conducted on Oct. 23, 2023) looked at Americans’ attitudes surrounding resolution setting and what types of goals were prioritized.

Interestingly, the survey highlighted a couple standout themes: The most commonly-selected new year’s resolution for 2024 among respondents was fitness, which contrasts with findings from the previous year. The previous Forbes Health/OnePoll survey in 2022 showed that many people were prioritizing their mental health, rather than their physical health, in their resolutions for 2023.

Specifically, the recently-conducted survey found:

• 62% say they feel pressured to set a new year’s resolution.
  • Women (64%) feel slightly more pressured to set a resolution than men (60%).
• Overall, 48% of people say improving fitness is a top priority in 2024 while 36% cite improved mental health as a top resolution (respondents could select more than one).
  • 55% say physical and mental health are of equal importance.
• More people cite improved fitness as a top resolution (48%) compared to improved finances (38%), improved mental health (36%), weight loss (34%) and improved diet (32%).
  • Women (36%) and men (36%) equally cite improved mental health as a top resolution for 2024. However, women are more likely to focus on fitness (52%) in 2024 compared to men (42%).
• 20% of respondents say they keep themselves accountable when it comes to sticking to their goals. This is a massive drop compared to last year’s survey, for which 77% of respondents said they would keep themselves accountable.
• Overall, 80% of respondents feel confident in their ability to reach their goals, and only 6% lack this confidence.
  • Men are slightly more confident (82%) than women (79%) in their ability to reach their goals.
• 49% plan on using a fitness app for assistance in sticking to their resolutions.
  • Generally, apps are the most popular tool used to maintain accountability. The most popular tools are:
    • Diet program (46%)
    • Gym membership (43%)
    • Habit tracking app (40%)
    • Diet/calorie counter app (33%)
    • Meditation app (33%)
• 86% of respondents say their new year’s resolution will have a positive impact beyond 2024.
  • 29% say that their resolution will have a positive impact for one to two years, and 57% believe it’ll have an impact for three years or more.

For 2024, the Forbes Health/OnePoll survey found some resolutions to be more common than others, with the most popular goals including:

• Improved fitness (48%)
• Improved finances (38%)
• Improved mental health (36%)
• Lose weight (34%)
• Improved diet (32%)

Less popular resolutions include traveling more (6%), meditating regularly (5%), drinking less alcohol (3%) and performing better at work (3%).

Setting a New Year’s resolution is an incredibly common practice, especially in the U.S. A 2022 poll by YouGov indicated that 37% of Americans said they had a goal or resolution they wanted to achieve in 2023, with 87% saying they were very or somewhat likely to keep it through the year. Interestingly, another study found the practice of resolution setting may be more common in the U.S., as similar polls in Sweden found just 12% to 14% of people set goals for the new year.

U.S. adults are also ambitious when it comes to New Year’s resolutions. A separate 2020 survey from New Urban Plates/Ipsos revealed that while nearly two in five respondents had a goal in mind for the upcoming year, 18% reported having multiple goals.

Setting New Year’s Resolutions by Demographic

While resolutions are made by individuals across the board, a few groups are more likely than others to set their sights on a specific goal for the new year, according to the 2020 New Plates/Ipsos survey, which polled 1,005 U.S. adults. For 2021 resolution setting, these groups included:

• Younger adults (59% of those ages 18 to 34 versus 19% of those older than 55)
• Parents (54% of people with kids living at home versus 33% of those without kids)
• Those who set a resolution the year before (86% compared to 11% of those who did not set a 2020 resolution)

(Note: Product details and pricing are accurate as of the publication date and are subject to change.)

If you find yourself in the camp of setting lofty goals for the new year only to find yourself falling off the wagon just months (or weeks) later, rest assured that you’re not alone. In fact, failing at New Year’s resolutions is so common that there’s even a slew of (unofficial) dates commemorating such failures—some sources cite “Ditch New Year’s Resolutions Day” as January 17 while others denote the second Friday in January as “Quitter’s Day.”

The Forbes Health/One Poll survey found that the average resolution lasts just 3.74 months. Only 8% of respondents tend to stick with their goals for one month, while 22% last two months, 22% last three months and 13% last four months.

The types of goals you set also matters when it comes to success. Research in PLoS One suggests action-oriented goals are more likely to result in success after a year than avoidance-oriented goals (58.9% versus 47.1% in this specific data set).

But the beauty of goal setting is you don’t need a ball drop or cannons of confetti to signal a fresh start—you can recommit to your resolutions at any time. In fact, June 1 is unofficially known by many as “New Year’s Resolution Recommitment Day,” giving you the perfect opportunity to take stock of where you are with your resolutions and hit reset if necessary.