As the calendar flips to 2025, many of us embrace the familiar and hopeful mantra, “New Year, New Me.” And while the sentiment is inspiring, Optimism Bias (tendency to overestimate our likelihood of experiencing positive events and underestimate our likelihood of experiencing negative events) is often our enemy when it comes to sticking to and achieving our goals.
A 2023 survey found that 30 million people around the UK made new year’s resolutions, with health (28%), money (27%), family (24%) and self-improvement (21%) topping the charts for the most common resolutions.
However, on average, British adults are only likely to last seven weeks before giving up a new habit, and 21% of British adults only lasted for a month before breaking.
But we’ve got some good news! We can overcome these unhelpful traits by focusing on tiny, actionable habits—an approach championed by BJ Fogg in his book Tiny Habits. BJ founded the Behaviour Design Lab at Stanford Universityand has the tools to help us understand how cognitive biases shape our behaviour so we can set ourselves up for success in becoming the person we aspire to be this year!
So why is there a painful gap between what we say and what we do?
Well, there are a number of factors that could affect our chances of success:
What can you do about it?
In the book Tiny Habits, Fogg has a great exercise to help you find the perfect habits you might stick to, our low hanging fruit! He calls these our ‘Golden Behaviours’.
In order to build the perfect habit, we need to ensure we have the following three behaviours:
Our brains are wired to seek immediate rewards, a trait influenced by present bias—the tendency to prioritise short-term satisfaction over long-term benefits. This is why a cosy evening on the couch often wins over a trip to the gym. However, knowing this can empower us to design resolutions that work with, rather than against, our natural tendencies.
In Tiny Habits, Fogg explains that motivation fluctuates, and relying solely on it can lead to failure. Instead, he suggests anchoring new habits to existing routines, such as flossing one tooth after brushing or doing two squats after brewing your morning coffee. These small actions build momentum and make forming habits easier and more enjoyable.
Many of us fall into the all-or-nothing trap, believing we must completely overhaul our lives to see meaningful change. However, behavioural research, echoed in Tiny Habits, shows that small, incremental changes are much more sustainable. For example, if your goal is to read more, commit to just one page a day. These micro-habits bypass the brain's resistance to large, intimidating changes, leveraging the consistency bias, which drives us to act in alignment with our previous actions.
Fogg’s also suggests the concept of “celebration” after completing your tiny habit! By celebrating each tiny habit—whether with a fist pump, a smile, or a verbal “I did it!”—you engage your brain’s reward system, reinforcing the behaviour and increasing the likelihood of repetition.
The endowment effect—valuing what we already possess—can be a powerful motivator as we form new habits. Once we’ve invested time and energy into positive changes, we become less likely to abandon them. Reflecting on how far you’ve come can solidify your identity as someone who prioritizes growth and self-improvement.
Fogg’s “ABC Formula”—Anchor, Build, Celebrate—provides a roadmap for sustaining habits long-term. By anchoring habits to existing routines, building them gradually, and celebrating successes, we create a feedback loop that reinforces progress and cultivates identity-based habits.
As market researchers, we know that understanding human behaviour is key to driving change, whether in consumer decisions or personal growth. By applying insights from behavioural science and embracing the power of tiny habits, as outlined in BJ Fogg’s Tiny Habits, we can transform “New Year, New Me” from a fleeting idea into a sustainable reality.
This year, let’s use our knowledge to shape resolutions that stick—starting with one small, intentional step. As Fogg reminds us, “Tiny is mighty.” After all, progress, not perfection, is the true measure of success.