Forget New Year’s resolutions: Psychology reveals how to rewire your brain for success in 2026

January is a time when many people reflect on their goals for the year ahead—a new job, a promotion, hitting the gym, or overall better health—but research from Baylor College of Medicine and psychologist Richard Wiseman shows 88% of people actually fail to achieve their New Year’s resolutions.

But according to the experts we asked, you should forget resolutions—and do these things instead.

Rewire your brain

“Repetition, not intention, rewires behavior,” says Cherian Koshy, author of Neurogiving.