Why Resolutions Rarely Last — and What Yoga Offers Instead

Stef
Dec 30, 2025
4 min read

Every January, I repeat the same pattern.

I begin with energy and intention. I decide this is the year I will finally be more disciplined, more consistent, more productive, more together. I make promises to myself - often carefully written out in a new journal - rooted in good intentions - and I hope this year will be different.

And then, slowly, the momentum fades. I miss a day, or I find that life gets in the way and it becomas a matter of choice.

I started to look into why I always fail - every year. I dont get that skinnier, stronger body, I dont eat better, I dont get more sleep, I dont spend more time with my family.

It was good to know that this isn’t a failure of willpower.It’s a mismatch of approach.

Most resolutions are outcome-focused. They ask us to jump ahead to a future version of ourselves without addressing the inner conditions needed to sustain change. They rely on motivation, which is emotional and temporary, rather than on structures that support us when motivation dips — which it always does.

From a yogic perspective, this is why resolutions struggle. Yoga was never designed as a quick fix. It is a lifelong practice concerned not with achievement, but with how we live, relate, and return.

The problem with goals

Goals are not inherently bad. But when they are disconnected from meaning, they become brittle.

A goal says: I will do this. A value says: This is how I want to live.

When life becomes busy, messy, or emotionally demanding, goals are often the first thing to go.

Values, on the other hand, remain accessible even when circumstances change.

You may not manage five practices a week — but you can still choose steadiness.

You may miss a class — but you can still act with care.

You may feel tired — but you can still honour presence.

Values don’t require perfect conditions. They meet us where we are.

What yoga teaches us about sustainable change

In yoga philosophy, meaningful transformation happens through Abhyāsa — steady, repeated practice over time — supported by Vairāgya, non-attachment to outcomes.

This is a radically different framework from resolution culture.

Abhyāsa doesn’t ask how much you do.It asks how often you return.

It recognises that the body, nervous system and mind all change slowly — and that gentleness is not the opposite of progress, but a prerequisite for it.

Yoga also invites us to cultivate Sthira and Sukha — steadiness and ease. When effort outweighs ease, we burn out. When ease outweighs effort, we stagnate. Balance is found not by pushing harder, but by listening more closely.

This is why yoga remains relevant long after motivation fades. It teaches us to work with ourselves, not against ourselves.

Values as a compass, not a rulebook

Values are not intentions to achieve. They are qualities we choose to return to.

A value might be steadiness, honesty, kindness, courage, or care. Unlike goals, values don’t tell us what we must do — they help us decide how to respond in each moment.

This is where yoga becomes deeply practical.

Rather than asking, Did I stick to my plan? We ask, Did I act in alignment with what matters to me today?

This shift removes shame from the process of change and replaces it with curiosity and self-trust.

This January isn’t about setting intentions — it’s about reconnecting with what matters, and letting your practice support the way you want to live. Rather than setting goals, we’re gently reconnecting with the values that guide us — and letting yoga be the place we return to them.

Where this becomes personal

So what are my values? What matters to me?

This year, my accident and my bodies vulnerability has taught me that health needs to be my number one value. If my body is injured or ill, I cannot carry out the things I love, I cannot work causing financial pressures and I become a drain on my family. And my family are pivitol to my happiness - they are my everything. I want to give them a happy healthy life too.

But I will not set a resolution or a goal - been there, done that and failed. My goals in the past have been outcome focused, based on short term motivation, they were rooted in self correction and external drivers creating stress rather than safety in my nervous system, they lived in my head not my body. When values sit at the centre, actions change naturally, movement becomes care not punishment, Rest becomes productive and habits align without force.

So I will simply acknowledge that looking after myself and my family has to take priority and reassess how I spend my time and energy. I will think differently about the choices I make. Finding my way back to my own yoga practice will be a really good place to start. Not just the asana but the wider practices. Yoga has so much it can teach us about ourselves and how we choose to live.