You Can Do This! Sustaining Resolutions Beyond the First Quarter
A Comprehensive Guide to Lasting Habit Change
TL;DR: Research shows that 80% of New Year's resolutions fail by February due to waning motivation, but implementing strategies like habit stacking, environment design, and identity-based habits can significantly improve success rates. Effective approaches include making behaviors easy and rewarding, tracking progress, and leveraging social accountability. Lasting habit change requires embracing imperfection, focusing on incremental progress, and creating systems that align with human psychology. 11–16-minute read.
So, you started the year with big plans, but now that spring flowers are blooming (or if you also live in Calgary/Ontario, blowing a full on winter snow), your resolution enthusiasm might be wilting even though we have a long way from autumn. Don't worry—you're not alone! The transition into the second quarter often marks that critical "make or break" moment when our new habits either stick around or quietly disappear.
Let's talk about why this happens and—more importantly—what you can do about it. The good news? Science has some fascinating insights into how we can push through this challenging "middle phase" of behavior change. With some smart tweaks to your approach, those January aspirations can become year-round realities.
Key Trends in Habit Formation Research
The Resolution Retention Challenge
Here's a reality check—research shows that about 80% of New Year's resolutions don't make it past mid-February. Only about 9% of resolution-makers feel they truly succeed in the long run. Feeling better about your own progress already? If you are celebrate and welcome to the 9% club!
This massive drop-off happens during what scientists call the "motivation valley"—that tricky period when the excitement of starting something new has faded, but you haven't yet reached the point where the habit feels natural and rewarding. Sound familiar? For most of us, the second quarter (hello, April!) sits right in this valley, making it the perfect time to get strategic about your habits.
The Habit Formation Timeline
Forget the myth that habits form in 21 days—research from University College London found that real habit formation takes anywhere from 18 to 254 days, with the average hovering around 66 days. That's over two months of consistent practice before a behavior becomes automatic!
The interesting part? The (habit) automation curve isn't a straight line. You'll see big improvements in the first few weeks, followed by a plateau where progress seems to slow down. This plateau often hits around the second quarter for New Year's resolutions, which explains why April can feel like running into a motivation wall.
The Rising Focus on Systems Over Goals
One of the biggest shifts in habit research is moving away from goal-obsessed thinking toward creating effective systems. As James Clear puts it in "Atomic Habits," successful change depends less on where you want to go (goals) and more on creating a reliable vehicle to get you there (systems).
This systems-first approach makes so much sense when you think about it. When we focus only on goals, what happens after we reach them? Usually, we slide right back to our old behaviors. But when we build effective systems, we create sustainable mechanisms that keep working regardless of specific achievement milestones.
Effective Strategies for Sustaining Habits Through Spring and Beyond
1. Identity-Based Habits
Want to know why some habits stick while others don't? It often comes down to identity. Research shows that habits connected to who you believe you are have serious staying power compared to those based just on what you want to achieve.
This means making a subtle but powerful shift in how you think and talk about your habits. Instead of saying "I want to run a marathon" (outcome-based), try "I am (becoming) a runner" (identity-based). It might sound like a small change, but studies show that people who adopt identity-relevant language stick with their habits much longer.
Try this: Create simple identity statements connected to your habits. Instead of "I need to save more money," try "I'm a person who makes smart financial decisions." Use these statements when you're facing choices related to your habit. Ask yourself, "What would a runner do right now?" or "How would a financially savvy person handle this?"
2. Habit Stacking and Implementation Intentions
Ever notice how some parts of your day happen on autopilot? That's because established routines have incredible power—and you can harness this power through "habit stacking," where you attach new habits to existing ones.
This technique uses what psychologists call implementation intentions—specific if-then plans for your behaviors. Research shows people who create these plans ("If situation X happens, then I'll do Y") are twice as likely to follow through compared to those with vague intentions.
Try this: Identify stable daily routines that can serve as triggers for new habits. For example: "After I brush my teeth (established routine), I will floss one tooth (new habit)." Be super specific about when, where, and how you'll perform the new behavior. The more precise your plan, the better it works!
3. Environment Design
Did you know that people eat 20-40% more food when using larger plates? This fascinating research from Cornell University shows that our surroundings dramatically influence our behaviors—often without us even realizing it.
The takeaway? Your environment might be working against your habits without you knowing it. By redesigning your spaces, you can make good habits feel effortless and bad habits require extra work.
Try this: Do a quick "environment audit" of your home and workspace. How can you make desired behaviors obvious and easy? Put your workout clothes next to your bed, keep a water bottle on your desk, or place healthy snacks at eye level in your fridge. Meanwhile, increase friction for habits you want to break—store the TV remote in a drawer, keep junk food in hard-to-reach places, or use website blockers for distracting sites.
4. The Two-Minute Rule
One of the simplest yet most powerful habit strategies is the "Two-Minute Rule"—the idea that new habits should take less than two minutes to do, at least initially.
This works because starting is almost always the hardest part of any habit. Once you begin, continuing becomes much easier thanks to what psychologists call the Zeigarnik effect—our tendency to remember (and want to complete) unfinished tasks.
Try this: Scale down your habits to their two-minute versions. Instead of "meditate for 20 minutes," make it "sit on my meditation cushion for two minutes." Instead of "write a chapter," make it "write one paragraph." These "gateway habits" are a great way to start and often naturally expand once you've started, but even if they don't, you've still maintained the behavior pattern.
5. Habit Tracking and Visible Progress
There's something strangely satisfying about marking an X on a calendar or checking off a box, isn't there? Research on the "progress principle" shows that seeing visible progress, even when it's small, is incredibly motivating.
Habit tracking creates a visual representation of your consistency, which provides immediate satisfaction and taps into multiple psychological principles: the commitment to consistency, the endowed progress effect, and loss aversion (not wanting to break the chain).
Try this: Create a simple tracking system that works for you—whether that's a paper calendar, a specialized app, or a habit tracking journal. Mark each successful day and focus on building "streaks" of consistency. Review your tracker weekly to spot patterns and potential obstacles. The visual evidence of your progress can be surprisingly powerful when motivation dips.
6. Social Accountability and Support Systems
Ever notice how much easier it is to show up when someone's expecting you? Research confirms this intuition—people trying to change behaviors have a 76% success rate after twelve months when they have structured social support, compared to just 24% for those going it alone.
This becomes especially valuable during the second quarter motivation dip. Having someone checking in on your progress can be the difference between pushing through or giving up.
Try this: Create explicit accountability arrangements with clear check-in protocols. This might be a weekly review with a friend, joining a community focused on your specific habit, or using public commitment mechanisms like social media updates. You could even try financial stake platforms like Stickk.com, where you put money on the line that gets donated to a cause you hate if you don't follow through!
7. Reward Systems and Celebration of Small Wins
Your brain runs on a simple feedback loop of cue, routine, and reward. By deliberately engineering rewards for desired behaviors—especially during the tough middle phase of habit formation—you strengthen the neural pathways that make habits stick.
BJ Fogg, founder of Stanford's Behavior Design Lab, emphasizes the importance of "celebration" as an immediate emotional reward. His research suggests that the positive emotion associated with success, rather than the achievement itself, is what cements habit formation.
Try this: Create immediate rewards that follow your habits directly. These don't have to be elaborate—it could be as simple as a happy dance after your workout or a moment of gratitude after saving money. Additionally, establish milestone rewards for consistency over time, like a small treat after a week of daily habits. Most importantly, practice "microcelebrations" after completing habits—a literal self-high-five or saying "I did it!" can trigger the positive emotions that strengthen neural pathways.
Statistical Insights on Habit Maintenance
Success Rates by Strategy Implementation
Want some motivation to try these strategies? Research compiled from multiple behavior change studies shows:
People using only goal-setting: 8-12% still engaged after 6 months
People using goal-setting plus one evidence-based strategy: 20-25% still engaged after 6 months
People using an integrated systems approach (3+ evidence-based strategies): 45-55% still engaged after 6 months
That's a dramatic difference! Combining multiple reinforcing strategies creates substantially more robust habit systems—not just a small improvement, but a complete transformation in your odds of success.
Critical Time Periods for Habit Development
Knowing when to expect resistance can help you prepare for it. Analysis of habit formation timelines reveals several predictable challenging periods:
Days 1-7: The honeymoon phase (highest motivation, lowest need for strategies)
Days 21-30: First resistance phase (moderate decline in motivation)
Days 45-60: Major resistance phase (significant motivation drop)
Days 90-120: Consistency challenge (transitioning from conscious effort to automaticity) < You are here! You can do it!!!
The second quarter (April-June for new habits or New Year's resolutions) typically falls in that final consistency challenge phase. This explains why having specific strategies becomes particularly important during this period—you're in the final stretch before automaticity kicks in!
Expert Opinions on Sustaining Long-Term Change
Dr. Laurie Santos (Yale University, The Happiness Lab)
Dr. Santos challenges our common assumptions about willpower: "We overestimate the role of motivation and underestimate the power of our environments," she notes.
"Creating situations where good habits are the path of least resistance is far more effective than trying to force ourselves to do difficult things through sheer willpower."
— Dr. Laurie Santos
Her research suggests that people who successfully maintain habits aren't necessarily more disciplined—they're just better at designing their environments and routines to make positive behaviors easier. It's not about being "stronger" than others—it's about being smarter about how you set yourself up for success.
BJ Fogg (Stanford University, Behavior Design Lab)
Dr. Fogg's research highlights a surprising truth—emotion, not repetition, is the real key to habit formation. "People have been told for years that habits form through repetition, but that's only part of the story," Fogg explains.
"What really drives habit formation is the feeling that happens when you do the behavior—if you feel successful, the behavior will start to become automatic."
— BJ Fogg, Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything
His work suggests that celebrating tiny successes immediately after completing behaviors creates stronger neural associations than larger rewards separated from the behavior by time. So that happy dance after flossing one tooth? It's actually backed by science!
Dr. Wendy Wood (University of Southern California)
As one of the world's leading researchers on habits, Dr. Wood emphasizes the importance of context stability. "When our environments change, our habits are disrupted," Wood explains.
"People who successfully maintain habits through life transitions are those who deliberately recreate cues and rewards in their new environments."
— Dr. Wendy Wood
Her research suggests that approximately 43% of our daily actions are performed habitually in stable contexts. This highlights why disruptions like vacations, job changes, or even home renovations can throw off our habits—and why planning for these transitions is so important.
Addressing Common Obstacles to Long-Term Habit Maintenance
Perfectionism and the "All-or-Nothing" Mindset
Do you tend to think "Well, I missed my workout today, so this week is ruined"? Research shows that perfectionism is a major habit-killer. Studies found that people with perfectionist tendencies are much more likely to abandon habits after inevitable lapses, while those with a growth mindset view those same lapses as learning opportunities and show much greater persistence.
Take for example, our very own Greatway Marketing Director, Ron Pagcaliwagan in one of his personal passion projects below to post videos every single day this 2025, when he missed a couple of days:
Click the photo or here for Ron’s original instagram post.
Try this: Implement the "never miss twice" or in this case, thrice, rule—allow yourself occasional lapses but never consecutive ones. Additionally, decide in advance what your "minimum viable effort" will be for challenging days. This preserves the habit pattern without requiring perfect execution. Remember: consistency beats perfection every time.
The Motivation Decline
Let's be honest—motivation comes and goes like the tide. Research shows that intrinsic motivation (doing something because it feels good) lasts much longer than extrinsic motivation (doing something for external rewards). However, intrinsic motivation typically develops only after you've practiced a behavior consistently for some time.
Try this: During the motivation valley (often the second quarter for New Year's resolutions), rely more heavily on your systems and less on feeling motivated. Use accountability structures, environment design, and immediate rewards to bridge the gap until intrinsic motivation develops. Think of it like using training wheels until you've built enough balance to ride without them.
Competing Priorities and Time Constraints
Life happens! Harvard research on "implementation intentions" shows that vague plans ("I'll exercise more") crumble under pressure from competing priorities, while specific action plans tied to triggers ("I'll exercise for 20 minutes after my morning coffee") show remarkable resilience even during busy periods.
Try this: Create detailed implementation plans for habits that specify the exact time, duration, location, and circumstances. Additionally, prepare contingency plans for foreseeable obstacles ("If I can't exercise in the morning due to an early meeting, then I will take a 15-minute walk during lunch"). Having these plans ready means you don't have to make decisions when you're busy or stressed—you just follow the plan.
Build Sustainable Habit Systems
The research is crystal clear: sustainable habit change isn't about motivation or willpower—it's about creating robust systems that work with human psychology rather than against it. By implementing identity-based habits, environment design, habit stacking, friction reduction, and strategic rewards, you dramatically increase your chances of maintaining resolutions beyond that challenging second quarter slump.
Disclaimer: This article and publication is intended for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, insurance, or legal advice. Individual circumstances, needs, and outcomes may vary significantly. For tailored guidance to your specific situation, please consult a licensed financial services professional who can provide personalized recommendations in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
Perhaps most importantly, successful habit maintainers embrace imperfection in the process. They understand that the path to lasting change isn't a straight line but rather a series of experiments, adjustments, and recoveries. By focusing on progress over perfection and systems over goals, they create sustainable frameworks that can withstand real life's inevitable ups and downs in motivation, time, and energy.
As we move from the initial excitement of January into the more challenging terrain of Spring and beyond, these evidence-based approaches offer a practical roadmap for transforming those temporary behaviors into enduring habits that can truly change your life—not just for a few months, but for good.
References
Clear, J. (2018). Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones. Penguin Random House.
Duhigg, C. (2012). The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. Random House.
Fogg, B.J. (2020). Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Lally, P., van Jaarsveld, C.H.M., Potts, H.W.W., & Wardle, J. (2010). How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40(6), 998-1009.
Santos, L. (2020). The Happiness Lab Podcast: How to Kick Bad Habits and Start Good Ones. Pushkin Industries. Retrieved from https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/the-happiness-lab-with-dr-laurie-santos/how-to-kick-bad-habits-and-start-good-ones
Wood, W., & Neal, D.T. (2016). Healthy through habit: Interventions for initiating & maintaining health behavior change. Behavioral Science & Policy, 2(1), 71-83.