‘Simple, Specific, Realistic’: Turning Your New Year’s Resolutions into Reality

Health psychology professor Rebecca Macy shares her tips for starting—and sustaining—2025 goals.

The arrival of a new year often inspires reflection and the popular tradition of making New Year’s resolutions. According to the Pew Research Center, almost half of Americans ages 18 to 29 made resolutions this year, but 40 percent of all Americans admitted they didn’t keep them.

Rebecca Macy, a psychology professor at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS), says resolutions can be valuable for self-improvement if approached thoughtfully.

Among the most popular resolutions are exercising more, eating healthier, saving money, and spending more time with loved ones, per Pew Research data.

“I think it is as good an idea to have New Year’s resolutions as it is to set goals anytime,” says Macy, who teaches several courses in the Health Psychology program, with research interests in neuroimmunology and the social determinants of health. “But I don’t think New Year’s resolutions are any more meaningful or important than any goals that somebody decides to pursue at any point in time.”

So, how can we set goals we’ll stick to? Macy shares her advice.

Goals You Won’t Give Up On

When making a goal, Macy suggests keeping it “simple, specific, and realistic.”

“Take an honest inventory of your life: What are the resources I have available? What are the barriers that I'm facing? What can I really dedicate to this?” Macy says.

It’s also important to approach goals with a healthy mindset. Macy emphasizes creating “values-linked” goals instead of ones rooted in shame.

For example, fitness goals often fail when they stem from external pressures, like wanting to appear more attractive. Instead, Macy advises framing goals around personal values.

“Let’s say you have a young niece or nephew you love playing with, but you get out of breath at the playground. You might decide, ‘I’m going to work out so I can be more active with them.’ That’s a values-linked goal,” Macy explains.

Stay Motivated

To maintain progress beyond January, Macy recommends finding a way to measure and track your achievements without it feeling burdensome.

If you’re practicing mindfulness, for example, you could track your stress levels with journaling or mental health apps. “Seeing meaningful results can increase motivation,” she says.

Social support can also help, though it depends on the individual. “Ask yourself if external accountability will help or if it will demotivate you,” Macy says. "People respond differently to external accountability and pressure.”

Prepare for Setbacks

Life often gets in the way of even the best plans, but Macy says preparation can help.

“Goal attainment is almost never linear, and life is messy. There’s action planning—making a plan to achieve the goal—but also coping planning, which is what you’ll do when things go wrong,” she says.

If burnout strikes, Macy recommends self-regulation techniques like deep breathing, mindfulness, or cognitive reframing.

“The key is maintaining psychological flexibility,” she says. “Ask yourself, what do I do next to adapt? Don’t hold rigidly to your initial goal—it may need to evolve.”

With the right approach, Macy says, New Year’s resolutions can be more than fleeting promises—they can be the first step toward meaningful change.