These Are The New Year's Resolutions Canadians Are Making For 2023 & Why They Might Fail

Are you making a New Year's resolution? Many Canadians will set personal goals for next year, but how many will actually end up meeting them?

A new study looked at what New Year's resolutions Canadians are setting for 2023 and, for those who do set them, how many are likely to fail.

Gambling website Time2play looked at what resolutions Canadians are hoping to achieve in the new year, asking 1,000 residents what their goals are for 2023.

Many Canucks will likely be heading to the gym in the new year, with the highest percentage of respondents (29.5%) saying that they plan to improve their personal fitness and nutrition.

Following them, 22.3% of respondents will be focusing on their financial goals — like saving money, investing, budgeting and/or paying off debts.

Just over 14% said they don't make New Year's resolutions at all, while others said they plan to grow their career (6.6%), improve their relationships (5.3%), travel (4.9%), learn a new skill (3.9%), quit bad habits (3.7%) and work on spiritual growth (2.9%).

Some Canadians (6.8%) have "other" resolutions in the works beyond the above categories.

Despite many residents making New Year's resolutions (and a majority of Canucks finding them to be beneficial), many end up failing, with a whopping 68.6% of respondents unable to meet their goals.

When asked why they fail to keep their resolutions, almost half (48.1%) said it was simply due to a lack of motivation. Some (14.9%) said they just forgot about their resolutions, while 12.2% said they lost track of their progress.

Other reasons Canadians couldn't keep their New Year's resolutions include not having enough time (7.4%), making unrealistic resolutions (4.1%) and setting too many goals (1.5%), so if you've ever decided you were going to read 100 new books in the new year and just couldn't reach your goal, it sounds like you're not alone.

According to Time2play, "14.5% failed to keep their resolutions for other reasons — such as not setting any resolutions to begin with, health struggles getting in the way, or running into too many roadblocks."

By province, the research found that Newfoundland and Labrador is the province most committed to New Year's resolutions, with respondents sticking to their goals for an average of six months, longer than any other region.

Next, Manitobans were found to stick to their goals for 5.4 months on average, with Quebecers coming in just behind them at 5.1 months.

Tied behind them are Alberta and Ontario, where respondents spend an average of 4.8 months on their resolutions before calling it quits, and New Brunswick, where residents do this for a bit shorter at 4.6 months.

Near the bottom is Saskatchewan, where residents spend 3.8 months on their goals for the new year before scrapping them.

The province seemingly least committed to their ambitions is Nova Scotia, where respondents end up scrapping their goals by 3.5 months on average.

Some provinces and territories weren't accounted for due to a lack of data, Time2play said.

As you can imagine, some failed New Year's resolutions don't come cheap. The study found that the average Canadian has spent $252.12 on failed resolutions in past years, investing in things like costly gym memberships and fitness equipment, travel, and gear needed for new hobbies and skills.

So while some may think the 14.1% of residents who don't set goals for the new year are missing out, at least they may be holding on to some cash!