Why Most Musical New Year’s Resolutions Fail (and What Actually Works)
1. Why Resolutions Rarely Stick
It’s pretty widely known that around 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail before reaching February. However, what is less widely known is why!
Most resolutions rely heavily on motivation, energy, mood, and the momentum of beginning on a specific date (January 1st). If you think about it, the reason for such a high failure rate is built into the premise itself. If you are waiting to begin something at the start of the New Year, then the motivation to begin isn’t strong enough to start right away, but is instead highly influenced by the “fresh beginning” that comes with a New Year, and this often evaporates by the time we reach February.
It’s also just after Christmas, where many of us have relaxed, eaten too much, and feel ready to get stuck into something. Yet while this may be true at the beginning of January, when work and life start to normalise again, maintaining a New Year’s resolution becomes much more difficult.
This is completely normal and it doesn’t mean that all New Year’s resolutions are destined to fail. It simply means that the type of resolution you choose and the way you frame any New Year’s resolutions you have play a much more significant role in how successful you are at maintaining them.
2. How to Actually Stick With It
So how do you actually craft your New Year’s resolutions so that they stick?
Well, there are many studies in the field of behavioural psychology that suggest new habits are more likely to stick if they are small, repeatable, and tied to your existing routines.
Many people tend to tie New Year’s resolutions to outcomes, yet these tend to be the least likely to succeed. The best way to create goals and resolutions is to create procedure-based resolutions. This is because consistency always beats intensity, and outcome-based goals often incentivise a short, unsustainable burst of effort at the start of the year, only to “fall off” a month later. Process-based goals, on the other hand, incentivise consistency, which is far more achievable and sustainable.
An outcome goal might be, “I want to be able to play this piece I’ve always wanted to play,” which might lead you to initially put in a lot of time and effort, then lose motivation and stop playing altogether.
A procedural goal might be, “I’m going to practise for 30 minutes each day for the full year,” which would likely lead to the same outcome but is framed in a much more achievable way that doesn’t rely on that initial burst of motivation.
Another thing to consider is that identity-based habits last much longer. If you tell yourself that you are the type of person who practises the piano daily, then it becomes non-negotiable, it’s simply part of who you are.
Most players who stick with it long term don’t rely on motivation at all; they rely on structure and habits. This can be made much easier by reducing friction. Try to make sure you have fewer new decisions to make per practice session (which pieces, scales, or exercises you are going to play), and make sure you have only a small number of things you hope to achieve in each session. These compound over consistent days, weeks, and months.
3. Starting the New Year
So how do you actually put all of this into practice this coming New Year?
Firstly, another important finding from behavioural psychology research is that early wins increase your ability to stick with something long term. So initially, make your goals very small. Maybe start with something like “practise 15 minutes of music reading each day,” “learn one new scale per week,” or “learn something new about music theory each week.”
Once you make it through to February, you’ve already beaten 80% of people. This is when it becomes much easier to say, “I am the type of person who does what I set out to do,” and to make that part of your identity.
At this point, you can start to increase your goals to something like “practise 30 minutes daily.”
Research suggests that it takes 90-100 days to make something a habit. So if you make it through to March or April, you’ll likely notice that it’s simply something you do now.
Music is a long-term pursuit rather than a short-term challenge, so your goals should reflect that. January is about reinvigorating your direction and building confidence rather than adding a ton of pressure.
Whatever your goals and resolutions are this year, I hope that you manage to achieve what you want to achieve, and most importantly, I wish you a very Happy New Year!
Matthew Cawood
(This is from my “Monday Music Tips“ weekly email newsletter. Join my mailing list to be emailed with future posts.)