New year resolution or evolution? Finding Purpose Driven Behavioral Change

Why do new year's resolutions fail?

Most people watch their New Year’s resolutions collapse by February and quietly decide they are the problem, not the approach they used. In this episode of Leadership Dissected, Dr. D and Dr. C unpack why traditional resolutions fail, using behavioral science to trace how all-or-nothing thinking, unrealistic timelines, and social comparison drain motivation. They walk through the four factors that drive real behavioral change motivation, social support, self-efficacy, and environment and show how small, consistent actions beat grand January promises. You will hear how to connect goals to a larger purpose, set dynamic milestones, and treat missteps as part of the process instead of proof that you failed.

The conversation then shifts from personal growth to organizational evolution. Dr. D and Dr. C connect New Year’s “resolutions” to annual strategic goals at work, explaining why leaders derail progress when they overload people, ignore capacity, or frame stretch targets as rigid pass/fail tests. You will learn how to set purpose-driven goals, build time and systems around them, and create a culture that celebrates progress over perfection so teams can actually move forward instead of burning out by March.