New Day Resolution
Harnessing the fresh start effect to achieve your aspirational goals
The new year resolution dilemma
New year, new you? It’s already February 2025—how are your New Year’s resolutions holding up? If you’re like most people, the enthusiasm that came with setting goals at the start of the year may have already begun to fade. Year after year, millions of people make resolutions, yet studies show that fewer than 10% actually stick with them for the entire year.
There’s something special about December. The final month of the year is filled with festivities, quality time with friends and family, and the rush to wrap up unfinished projects before the holiday break. This natural transition makes the new year feel like a fresh start—one filled with new possibilities, new habits, and a renewed sense of motivation. Even if we don’t explicitly call them “New Year’s resolutions,” most of us engage in some form of reflection and planning for the year ahead.
Yet, as the months go by, the initial momentum fades. The confidence you had in January starts slipping away. By March or April, many people find themselves abandoning the very goals they were once so determined to achieve.
A great example of this pattern is reflected in Google search trends for the keyword “diet.” Health-related goals, particularly maintaining a healthy diet, are among the most common resolutions. When analyzing Google Trends data over a five-year period (2020–2025), a clear pattern emerges. At the start of each year, there is a sharp spike in searches for “diet,” followed by a gradual decline over the following months—only to rise again towards the end of the year as the cycle repeats. On a smaller scale, similar spikes in search activity can be observed at the beginning of each month, the start of each week, and during public holidays.
So why do we struggle to maintain our resolutions, and what can we do to achieve the goals we set for ourselves each year?
The Fresh Start Effect
A key behavioral science principle that can help us stick to our goals is the Fresh Start Effect. This principle suggests that people are more likely to take action toward their goals when they associate them with a meaningful new beginning.
The fresh start effect is closely linked to temporal landmarks—specific points in time that psychologically separate our past from our future. The start of a new year is a prime example, which is why New Year’s resolutions are so widely popular. Research has shown that temporal landmarks can serve as motivational triggers, helping people commit to aspirational goals and behaviors.
Temporal landmarks help us organize our experiences and memories. They create a psychological division in time—an “end of a chapter” feeling—that allows us to mentally distinguish our “old self” from our “new self.” This distinction enables us to leave past mistakes or failures behind and embrace a fresh start with renewed energy.
Understanding the fresh start effect and the power of temporal landmarks raises an important question: How can we create more “fresh start” opportunities throughout the year to sustain motivation and achieve our goals?
Achieving your goals
Just as our goals come in many forms—whether related to health, personal finance, education, career, or relationships—temporal landmarks also take many shapes and forms. By recognizing and utilizing these landmarks, we can create multiple fresh start moments throughout the year, helping us maintain momentum toward our goals.
The most common type of temporal landmark is a calendar-based one. While the start of a new year is the most well-known example, fresh start opportunities also exist at the beginning of a new quarter, a new month, or even a new week. Even “tomorrow” can serve as a fresh start if framed correctly.
Beyond the standard calendar, special occasions can also serve as fresh start moments. Birthdays, Lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day, and other cultural or religious holidays can provide meaningful time markers that help us reset and refocus on our goals. By aligning goal-setting with these milestones, we can create multiple opportunities for motivation throughout the year.
Personal events that hold deep significance—such as graduating from university, starting a new job, getting married, or moving to a new place—can also create a strong fresh start effect. Because these events represent major transitions, they provide an excellent opportunity to redefine personal goals and commit to new habits. In some cases, these moments can be even more powerful than the start of a new year.
By recognizing both natural and self-created temporal landmarks, we can continuously leverage the fresh start effect to keep our motivation high. This perspective shifts our mindset: we don’t need to wait until next year to start fresh. Instead, we can use multiple opportunities throughout the year to reset, refocus, and make meaningful progress toward our goals.
The fresh start effect is just one of many ways to serve as a catalyst for achieving aspirational goals. By combining this effect with strategies like creating micro-landmarks, breaking down goals, celebrating progress, visualizing success, and fostering accountability, we can enhance and sustain motivation throughout the year. If you’ve read this far, consider this moment a fresh start opportunity—one that can propel you toward achieving your personal goals.
If you have read till the end, reading this very article can serve as a great “fresh start effect” opportunity for you towards achieving your personal goals.
Thanks for reading,
Steven
If you enjoyed this reading
📥 Don’t forget to subscribe (If you haven’t already done so), so you won’t miss out on anything!
❤️ Like the post
💬 Share your thoughts down in the comment section below.
🦋 Refer Signal Change to the people in your circles.
🙏 If you find the content valuable, consider paid subscription to Signal Change to gain access to exclusive contents that are only available to the paid subscribers. There are group discounts, gift options, and referral rewards available.
☕️ Support my work by buying me a couple cups of coffee as a token of appreciation.
🤝 Connect with me over at LinkedIn.