Question

Which detail supports the idea that accountability helps people maintain progress? 
LONDON -- It is one thing to make a New Year's resolution. It is, however, a very different thing to be able to keep it. 

Every year they are made with the best of intentions -- with the hope and desire to become a better version of ourselves -- so why is it that millions of people make New Year's resolutions knowing the odds of them ever following through with them are minimal? 

Jasper Rook Williams -- fitness expert, online coach and owner of JRW Fitness -- has made a successful career so far working with hundreds of clients around the world on improving their nutrition, training and lifestyle calibration. He has a good idea why. 

  

Jasper Rook Williams -- fitness expert, online coach and owner of JRW Fitness based in London, England -- says one of the biggest obstacles to maintaining New Year's resolutions, particularly when it comes to fitness objectives, is to choose goals that are both achievable and sustainable. 

"The goals, if sometimes a little ambitious, are rarely the problem and they are all set with best intentions," Rook Williams tells ABC News. "The issue is there's rarely enough thought put into the approach. People have high ambitions hinging on mostly unrealistic and unsustainable methods. Rather than just thinking 'I'll eat salads and join a gym', people need to prioritize achievable routines, sustainability and lifestyle changes from a broader and more holistic perspective." 

According to research, Rook Williams isn't wrong. The failure rate for New Year's resolutions is said to be an estimated 80% with most people losing their resolve and motivation just weeks later in mid-February, according to U.S News and World Report. 

"Changing your habits is very difficult, including finding the right moment to make a change," Bas Verplanken, professor of social psychology at the University of Bath, said in a report released by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology in 2017. "Changing from December 31st to January 1st is not a dramatic discontinuity. Many resolutions are made on December 31st, and go down the drain on January 2nd." 

Psychologically speaking, the beginning of a new year is often viewed as a seminal moment -- a time to reflect on the previous year and look ahead to the new one. But this doesn't necessarily translate to immediate change and action just because of timing. 

"Anything worthwhile is never without obstacle" 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the top three New Year's resolutions made each year are living healthier (23%), personal improvement or happiness (21%) and losing weight (20%), according to a report published by Statista in Nov. 2022. 

"A great question to ask yourself when starting out is "does this feel sustainable?" Rook Williams explains to ABC News. "If you can't keep up the routine then you definitely won't keep the results." 

One of the things that Rook Williams has found leads to people maintaining their success is when people have -- or are given -- a sense of accountability. 

"You have to bear in mind that creating new habits is hard and progress for anything worthwhile is never linear," he said. "There will be times when either you want to stop or results seem to have stopped and that can be hard to deal with. That's when having someone to guide you can keep you accountable can be invaluable in the process of change." 

Ultimately, to successfully make a change for the better, it comes down to striking the right balance, according to Rook Williams. 

"In the case of fitness, it's not just the food or training or wider lifestyle that will create the change but all three of these things working together," he continued. "They're not mutually exclusive. Lacking motivation is common and, in my experience, is something that comes when you don't have a plan. Whether you hire a professional or not, just removing the guesswork and gaining a sense of direction always helps the individual on their path to success."

Answer 1

The detail: "One of the things that Rook Williams has found leads to people maintaining their success is when people have -- or are given -- a sense of accountability."

(Also supported by: "That's when having someone to guide you can keep you accountable can be invaluable in the process of change.")