In a Fox KTVU morning segment, hosts discuss the notoriously low success rate of New Year's resolutions—only about 8% of people stick with them despite roughly 40% of Americans making resolutions each year. They interview Reena Vokoun, founder of the San Francisco‑based wellness company PassionFit, to uncover why most resolutions fail and how to make them stick. Vokoun emphasizes authenticity: setting goals that truly reflect personal values and abilities, rather than aspirational but unrealistic targets. She advises starting small (e.g., training for a 5K before attempting a marathon) and gradually scaling up. The conversation explores the role of public accountability versus private commitment, the ripple effect of personal change on family and coworkers, and the relevance of workplace resolutions that align with company mission. Vokoun shares her own broad resolution to minimize stress through daily mindfulness and meditation, noting that broad goals can work if broken into specific, measurable actions, such as SMART goals. The hosts also discuss the timing of resolutions, acknowledging that while the calendar new year offers a symbolic reset, goals can be set any time. Throughout, practical tips—clarifying impact, using specific language, and linking goals to core values—are offered to help viewers turn fleeting resolutions into lasting habits.
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And with only 8% of people keeping their New Year's resolutions, we have a few tips on how to hold strong.
And did you make that good old New Year's resolution? Up next, some easy ways to make sure you keep it if you did and turn your goal into a permanent habit.
Every year, about 40% of Americans make a New Year's resolution.
According to a survey by YouGov, the top 5 resolutions for 2018 are eat better, Exercise more, spend less money, self-care, things like getting more sleep and reading more books.
Unfortunately, only about 8% of people who make a resolution kind of stick to it. For a little help on making your desired habits stick, we're joined now by Reena Vokoun, founder of San Francisco-based PassionFit. I find it interesting about the 8%. I want to ask you about them first, the minority. What are they doing differently that the other 92% are not?
Yeah, I think authenticity is a huge part of that. The more authentic you are, the more true to yourself you are, the greater chances you have for success in keeping those by not setting yourself up.
Say you're not a runner and you're gonna run a marathon. Anything.
Exactly. If you're not a runner but you want to pick up running, maybe you start with a 5K race, right? And you work your way up to a marathon over time. That way you're not setting yourself up for disappointment or failure.
I feel like fewer people are making New Year's resolutions. Is this true?
You know, I think the numbers could be going down, but it is always good to have goals, right? It's always good to make healthy changes in your life. So again, I think that authenticity is really going to help people do it.
In the new year, and that's why all these fitness companies are having commercials and stuff.
Right.
Now, why is it, what is it about the new year? Just a new beginning? I mean, could I make a resolution in June maybe?
You know, you can certainly set goals and resolutions all year long, but yes, I think the beginning of a new calendar year really marks a time to reset, reflect on the previous year, and make healthy changes that align with things like your core values that may benefit others around you as well.
Well, I think that's what you just said is key because I'm not one to make resolutions, but I should reevaluate it because, you know, you always wanna do what's better especially first and foremost for your family, for your children if you have children, for friends. So, the one thing I don't realize is that if I do make a positive resolution, the impact that me changing or whatever I do can have on my family.
It's huge, absolutely. If you, let's say, want to start taking up mindfulness and you start meditating or doing yoga, you'll probably be more calm, more patient, more present-focused, and you'll benefit from that, but your family members and loved ones will as well.
So yesterday was January 2nd, and it's not quite a resolution, but I am hoping to get more sleep. Partly to benefit my husband and little children who have to deal with cranky Gassia come 4:30 in the afternoon. So yesterday evening we're in this great game of Monopoly, we're all on the living room floor, and I say, "Oh, it's bedtime for Mommy," and the two little boys, "No, stay, don't go." I had trouble sticking to my resolution on the second day. How do I work past that? Because I almost stayed.
Right, it's tough, it's tough. I think really thinking about how is this going to benefit your life and positively impact you and others is huge, right?
Long-term, not that night.
Not that night. But getting more sleep will help you feel better and function better. And so if you keep articulating to yourself and reminding yourself of the positive impact of the changes, on those nights when your kids want you to stay up late, you'll be more likely to stick with it.
What about telling people your resolution? Some people say, "Yeah, tell the whole world." But other people say, you know, just keep it to yourself and see what you can do and make resolutions to yourself.
Right. I think there's different schools of thought. If you put it out there, you're holding yourself accountable because you put it out there in a very public way, and others will hold you accountable as well. But I think if it's if it's something that's true to you, it's authentic, it's very personal, maybe you do want to keep it private.
Workplace resolutions, are those popular, or does it tend to be more kind of personal, going to the gym, or anything I can do better to better the, the company I work for?
Yeah, I think companies are definitely focused on their mission, right, their core values that they have for their employees. And every year they're probably also thinking about ways they can be more productive and produce more, earn more revenue, and the employees can follow suit.
I know a lot of companies sort of use January as a time to refocus, kind of have a nice big staff meeting to sort of align, you know, to let you know what the company's goals are, and you can think about how does that fit with mine.
Exactly, and aligning yourself with your employer is a win-win for everybody involved.
Care to share any of your resolutions?
Do you even make them?
You know, I do make them. Oh! Yes, yes, so I am definitely focused on minimizing stress. I think that's something we all could do a little bit more of.
That's really broad though.
It is broad, yeah, you know, and for me it's, you know, continuing to practice mindfulness.
That's a huge one.
Being a mom being a working mom, having my own company, I think mindfulness really does a lot for the mind and the body. So for me, it's being able to meditate every night before bed, and I do that with my children and my husband as well.
Broad can be good sometimes, because specific, right? You can set yourself up for failure if you're just too specific.
I need specific for accountability, or else I can blow— I'll be calm later, I'm gonna still, you know, do this bad activity. So I need specific.
Specific, yeah. I mean, there are a lot of people that set what are called Smart goals, which are more specific, more measurable. So I think it does depend on the individual. Having sort of a bucket of resolutions that you can then delve into later could work as well.
Okay, Reena Vokoun of PassionFit, happy New Year to you!
Happy New Year, thank you for having me.
Good to see you again, it's our pleasure. Coming up in a moment here on Mornings on 2 The Nine, something else we're talking about
