Make any New Year’s resolutions this year?  The idea of making resolutions for the new year originated over 4,000 years ago when the ancient Babylonians celebrated a 12-day festival called Akitu, during which they made promises to their gods to ensure a favorable year ahead.  The Romans also adopted this practice honoring the god Janus, who symbolized beginnings and endings.  Fast forward to today, many cultures around the world loosely follows the custom, maintaining the core idea of starting fresh and setting goals and intentions for self-improvement for the year ahead.

Recently, Strava (a social network for athletes) conducted extensive research of its database and found that approximately 80% of people who made a New Year’s resolution tap out by the second week of January.  They deduced by the 800 million user-logged activities that specifically, the second Friday of January was the fateful day when motivations involving exercise, eating habits and weight loss goals began to decline.  Thus, “Quitter’s Day” was coined as a scapegoat to blame for human’s inability to do hard things for an extended period of time.  “Hey, it’s not my fault…I’m just celebrating Quitter’s Day!”

The second Friday of the year… Yep, today is that day… January 9th.

Folks, welcome to Quitter’s Day!

Further research reveals that of the mere 20% that stick with their goal past Quitter’s Day, two-thirds of them will abandon it altogether by month’s end.

So, this all begs the question, why?  Why do we give up on our goals and ourselves so quickly?  Couple thoughts:

  • First, we set overly ambitious goals.  “I want to lose 10 pounds!”  And, after a week of activity and seeing no weight loss… “Why bother!  I quit!”  Well, losing 10 pounds doesn’t happen in a week, and often not in a month.  It takes a long time.  And we’re not patient enough to stick with it.
  • Next, lack of planning.  We set a goal and show up at the gym with no real idea or plan on what to do once we’re actually there.  Downloading a fitness routine online or taking a friend with you might provide the needed structure to help you maintain your goal.
  • Also, not tracking progress.  Perhaps you didn’t lose 10 pounds, but you made better eating choices.  Eventually, you’ll lose a pound, and that progress needs to be tracked and celebrated.
  • And last, we suffer from the all-or-nothing mindset.  Life happens, our kid gets sick, we have an unexpected meeting come up at work, and we miss a workout. It derails the whole idea, and we just stop because we missed a day.  If your schedule gets disrupted, give yourself grace to get back on track the next day.

Don’t be a quitter on Quitter’s Day!

Set a goal and keep with it!

Let’s make 2026 our best year ever!