What feels like the longest month of the year is finally nearing an end. Despite all the promise that the start of a new year holds, grey, dreary days, post-Christmas bills and the lull after all the excitement of December for many, means January can feel like a difficult month.
The end of the first month is also a time for many to reflect on the new year so far. If you set new year’s resolutions, how far have you stuck to these? What measures have you put in place to enable you to continue to do so throughout the year?
If you took part in a challenge such as no spend January, dry January or Veganuary, what have you learnt from this that you can carry forward? Will you continue with the challenge into February, or will you cherry pick elements that will enable you to create more realistic long-term habits?
According to research published by YouGov in December 2025, a fifth (19%) of Britons said they intended to make resolutions for 2026. Just under a quarter (23%) of this group said they intended to get fit or exercise more, 17% said they wanted to lose weight and 11% planned to eat more healthily. In addition, 7% said they wanted to save more or spend less and 4% wanted to improve their financial management.
While it can be easy to embark on new year’s resolutions with great gusto, maintaining this momentum can be challenging. For example, while no-spend months may sound appealing, how realistic is it to continue with these indefinitely? Instead, such initiatives can be a useful exercise to help with future budgeting and financial planning, for example, by highlighting daily habits that could be cut indefinitely to reduce expenses.
Goals that require a change in lifestyle and mindset can also be more achievable with support. Employees may not always turn to their benefits package in the first instance, yet many employers provide access to options that support a number of common health and financial wellbeing aims.
Tailoring benefits communications to highlight what is available at the start of a year, therefore, can ensure employees know what is available to them and how their organisation’s benefits package can support them in their personal goals.
In addition, finding a way to facilitate connections between employees with similar goals can help to create a support network and enable individuals to share their progress and lessons learned.
Once employees recognise the options available to them, their employer will likely reap rewards including increased loyalty, motivation and productivity. And, the more a benefit is used, the higher the likely return on investment.
So, how long will your workforce’s new year’s resolutions continue this year?
Debbie Lovewell-Tuck
Editor
@EmployeeBenefits
