Today, the second Friday in January, is International Quitters Day. It is the day when most people abandon their New Year’s resolutions. Research suggests that many people give up by this point due to waning willpower and motivation for big goals, as well as the difficulty of sticking to new habits.
Quitter’s Day has an impact not only on individuals but also on businesses. I happened to drive by a local chocolate shop today, and noticed a sign that read, “CLOSED JANUARY 1-12, 2026”. Last year, the store was open during these days, and the shelves were chock-full of chocolate confections. I thought the well-stocked shelves were an indication of fresh candy, daily restocking of the counters, and high sales during the first weeks of January. However, while the chocolatier wished that were the reason, the full counters were actually an indication that customers were sticking to their New Year’s Resolutions to lose weight, so stop buying chocolate!
The chocolate shop, all the wiser now, must have felt that the first two weeks of January 2026 were a good time to take a vacation since sales were down last year during this period. However, the ‘closed sign’ indicated the chocolate shop would reopen next week, just in time for sales to pick up now that most people have quit their resolutions. And just in time for the next big holiday for all things chocolate – Valentine’s Day!
However, why does the resolve to lose weight, exercise more, eat healthier, and reduce screen time fizzle? Psychologists suggest the culprit for failure is the lack of specific strategies as to how to accomplish these resolutions, or the lack of a true desire to meet these goals.
So how can anyone be successful in keeping to their resolutions? Some suggest exchanging the physical types of resolutions for something more spiritual, like reading the Bible every day, praying daily, attending a Bible study, and going to church each week faithfully. However, even the spiritual goals, while not bad ideas, are not sustainable because there is no power in a New Year’s resolution in and of itself. Unless a proper internal motivation exists to start or stop an activity, most resolutions will fall by the wayside.
In years past, when I did make New Year’s Resolutions, I realized they were mostly a “wish-list” of things I wanted to change about my life, and often they were very self-centered. I gave little thought about whether what I was resolving was God’s will or not. Now I call to mind Proverbs 16:3, which reads,
“Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”
The verb, commit, in Hebrew, literally means “to roll.” The idea of rolling is to completely give something over to God in total dependence upon Him. When we completely depend upon God in our work (and in our resolutions), God will establish our plans or “bring them about” or “cause them to happen”. When our plans align with God’s will, we do not have to worry about “Quitter’s Friday,” or exchanging our New Year’s Resolutions for a box of chocolates a few weeks from now!