New year, new you: Expert reveals tips to sticking to resolutions in 2024
- Meghan Blumsum
- Dec 6, 2023
- 4 min read
In 2023, 30 million Brits started off the year committed to their new year's resolution. However, reports found that 21% of Brits only last a month before giving up a new habit.
Intrigued to find out more, Live Rugby Tickets conducted a survey of 2,000 participants, which concluded the most popular resolutions for 2024, as well as how many Brits are likely to stick to them, and how long for.
The UK’s 10 most popular New Year resolutions for 2024
Rank | Resolution | % of Participant Response |
1 | Exercise | 50% |
=2 | Improve general health / wellbeing | 43% |
=2 | Lose weight | 43% |
4 | Improve saving habits | 38% |
5 | Learn a new skill | 20% |
6 | Travel | 19% |
=7 | Take up a new sport | 17% |
=7 | Stay organised | 17% |
9 | Read | 7% |
10 | Quit smoking | 6% |
To access the entire dataset, please view here.
The most popular New Year’s resolution for 2024 amongst UK adults is to exercise more, with half of those surveyed choosing this as their top priority.
Other health and wellness goals came in joint second, with improving general health, and losing weight ranking among the top resolutions for the upcoming New Year, both with 43% of participant votes.
Resolutions relating to health seem to be on everyone’s mind for 2024, with the UK recently ranking as the 34th healthiest country in the world, according to a recent study.
The fourth most desired goal is to improve saving habits, as more than a third (38%) of respondents look to find tips and tricks to save those extra pennies. With the expense of Christmas and the ongoing cost of living crisis taking its toll, a third of Brits are also cutting back on festive spending this year.
Comparatively, women were found to be marginally more likely to commit to more personal goals such as to improve their wellbeing (6% more likely), staying organised (4% more likely), and improving their savings habits (7% more likely) than men are.
Finally, the fifth most popular resolution is to learn a new skill in 2024, popular amongst a fifth of UK adults (20%).
The survey results also suggested that men are more likely to learn a new skill (7% more likely) and take up a new sport (4% more likely) than women are.
The data revealed that despite their best efforts, both men and women were most likely to commit to these goals for just a few short weeks at the most, with nearly three in ten (29%) women, and more than a third (34%) of men stating this is the duration they felt they could commit to.
The UK’s most popular New Year resolutions for 2024
Exercise | Improve general wellbeing | Lose weight | Improve saving habits | Learn a new skill | Travel | Take up a new sport | Stay organised | Read | Quit Smoking | |
Belfast | 47% | 49% | 40% | 32% | 21% | 17% | 17% | 19% | 11% | 9% |
Birmingham | 47% | 39% | 40% | 38% | 17% | 16% | 14% | 16% | 8% | 5% |
Bournemouth | 55% | 50% | 45% | 45% | 16% | 13% | 21% | 11% | 5% | 3% |
Brighton | 62% | 56% | 56% | 36% | 29% | 24% | 18% | 29% | 9% | 2% |
Cardiff | 53% | 42% | 61% | 39% | 19% | 33% | 22% | 14% | 11% | 8% |
Coventry | 66% | 22% | 56% | 38% | 13% | 3% | 9% | 9% | 3% | 3% |
Edinburgh | 43% | 40% | 48% | 40% | 18% | 8% | 20% | 13% | 8% | 5% |
Glasgow | 51% | 46% | 50% | 42% | 18% | 20% | 17% | 18% | 10% | 7% |
Leeds | 43% | 45% | 45% | 38% | 22% | 14% | 15% | 16% | 5% | 4% |
Leicester | 66% | 51% | 39% | 46% | 15% | 20% | 15% | 22% | 2% | 2% |
Liverpool | 52% | 34% | 49% | 52% | 18% | 24% | 16% | 15% | 4% | 9% |
London | 49% | 41% | 38% | 38% | 22% | 18% | 20% | 16% | 6% | 6% |
Manchester | 55% | 46% | 45% | 37% | 22% | 22% | 15% | 17% | 10% | 5% |
Middlesborough | 59% | 31% | 62% | 24% | 21% | 28% | 14% | 31% | 14% | 0% |
Newcastle upon Tyne | 56% | 52% | 51% | 41% | 13% | 28% | 16% | 26% | 11% | 8% |
Reading | 50% | 62% | 31% | 38% | 19% | 19% | 12% | 12% | 4% | 4% |
Sheffield | 55% | 35% | 36% | 33% | 24% | 20% | 15% | 13% | 5% | 5% |
Southampton / Portsmouth | 42% | 41% | 39% | 41% | 20% | 16% | 17% | 13% | 7% | 9% |
Stoke-on-Trent | 61% | 57% | 36% | 25% | 21% | 36% | 21% | 29% | 11% | 7% |
Sunderland | 40% | 24% | 36% | 28% | 16% | 28% | 16% | 28% | 0% | 12% |
To access the entire dataset, please view here.
The most popular New Year’s resolution for 2024 amongst UK cities is to exercise more, with 70% of the 20 cities surveyed choosing this as their top priority.
Other health and wellness goals ranked among the top resolutions, with 20% of the cities aiming to lose weight as the second most popular goal, whilst a further 15% of the cities mentioned are hoping to improve their general wellbeing during the New Year.
It seems goals relating to health seem to be on everyone’s mind for 2024, with the UK recently placing as the 34th healthiest country in the world, according to a recent study.
However, it was also revealed that despite their best efforts, 95% of the cities analysed were most likely to commit to these goals for just a few short weeks, whilst 34% of participants in Middlesbrough believe they are more likely to last between three to 12 months sticking to their resolutions.
Sarah Bolitho, Behaviour Change Specialist commented on why so many give up their resolutions, and how to succeed in reaching your goals:
“There are three key reasons people give up on their goals, despite setting them in the first place. Firstly, they have set a superficial goal, but have not thought about the deeper benefits or gains from it.
“Secondly, while the outcome goal has been set, the actual steps to achieve this successfully are not planned out.
“And thirdly, they don’t begin their goals from where they currently are in terms of knowledge or ability, instead they jump ahead and expect to succeed instantly. You need to focus on the journey, rather than the outcome.
“My best advice is not to not set resolutions but instead start by focusing on one small positive change you can make in your daily routine. Simple changes will be gradually absorbed into your life and build confidence you need to accomplish bigger aims.
Finally, I always advise my clients to start right now, not tomorrow, not next month, or even on the 1st of January. Do so now. If they aren't ready to start today, then the likelihood is that they don't really want the goal.”
Methodology:
Live Rugby Tickets surveyed 2,000 people to find out Britain's most popular New Year’s resolutions.
The study determined the number of Brits who will give up their new year's fitness resolution.
Data for the following cities was found to have below 40 respondents: Cardiff, Coventry, Bournemouth and Poole, Edinburgh, Middlesbrough, Reading, Stoke-on-Trent and Sunderland.
In relation to gender statistics, there were fewer respondents in the ‘other’ category, therefore, it has not been included in the release - all survey data is available here.
Survey was conducted in November 2023 and data is accurate as of then.
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