Why New Year's Resolutions Fail by February, and Does a Vision Board Actually Help?
What the 2026 JMIR trial found, including what did not work.
Every January you set goals, and by February you have quit. That is common, and it is rarely about willpower. Here is what a 2026 randomized trial found when it tested future-self exercises, including the parts that did not work.
Why resolutions fade
A resolution is usually a result ("lose weight", "save more") with no first step and nothing that brings it back into view. The excitement of January is a feeling, and feelings fade. What is left is the goal, with no cue to act on it on an ordinary Wednesday.
What the 2026 JMIR trial tested
A preregistered randomized trial in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (van Gelder et al., 2026, N=321) gave people three weeks of future-self exercises, in virtual reality with an embodied future-self avatar or on a smartphone. The full paper is at jmir.org/2026/1/e84420.
What worked
The future self felt more vivid and more connected to the present self. The virtual-reality arm improved weekly goal achievement during the intervention (d = 0.88).
What did not work
The smartphone arm did not improve goal achievement. Neither arm changed monthly goal achievement, goal commitment, self-efficacy or academic grades.
What faded
Most of the gain in vividness and connection had faded by follow-up.
A caveat
The virtual-reality arm also had in-person researcher guidance, so the medium and the guidance cannot be separated.
So does a vision board help?
Partly, and not on its own. None of this research tested a commercial vision-board product, including ours. What it suggests is that seeing a vivid future self can help for a while, and that the effect fades without repetition. Pham and Taylor (1999) add that picturing only the outcome can reduce effort, while picturing the process helps.
What to do with that
Make the board, then use it like a reminder. Put it on your lock screen, look at it weekly, and write one small action under each picture. If your resolution has no first step this week, it is a wish, not a plan.
If you want to build one: /blog/vision-board-2027-ideas has ideas by life area.