The trick to making New Year’s resolutions stick

新年决心的坚持之道

Post Reports

2026-01-09

18 分钟
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单集简介 ...

Go to sleep earlier. Read more books. Eat better. Exercise.  Changing our behavior is hard, but what if some simple – and dare we say fun – tricks could help us keep our resolutions for the new year? From temptation bundling to buddying up, Optimist reporter Maggie Penman shares the science on how to make your New Year’s resolutions, whatever they are, stick in 2026. Plus, on the eve of national “Quitters Day,” we explore why making resolutions can actually be beneficial – even if you don’t stick to them perfectly.  Today’s show was produced by Elana Gordon. It was edited by Dennis Funk and mixed by Sam Bair. Thanks to Allison Klein and Theresa Tamkins. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.
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  • Maggie, have you heard my approach to resolutions?

  • I have not.

  • Please tell me.

  • My hack.

  • So every year I just make so many New Year's resolutions.

  • So I have like 30 resolutions every year.

  • Oh my god.

  • And it's like a whole page of them.

  • And then when I look back at the end of the year,

  • I'm like, okay, well at least I did like four or five.

  • Okay.

  • So there's some success there.

  • All right.

  • But I think last year was particularly bad for me.

  • You're hearing me talk with reporter Maggie Penman,

  • a familiar voice on post reports as host of our weekly Optimist podcast.

  • Today, we're talking about New Year's resolutions.

  • Maybe you love making them, maybe you load them.

  • Either way, I have not been feeling so great about achieving resolutions lately.

  • I was looking back through my 2025 resolutions.