Top New Year’s resolutions include more prayer, family time: poll

As Americans look ahead to 2026, “spending more time with family” and “praying more” are among the top 10 most common New Year’s resolutions. 

YouGov released a survey asking Americans about their views on 2025 as it comes to a close and their New Year’s resolutions for 2026. It found that a majority of Americans (51%) did not intend to make New Year’s resolutions for 2026, while 31% sought to set goals for the new year. 

While the most common New Year’s resolution for Americans was exercising more (25%), two resolutions related to spending more time with family and focusing on faith rounded out the top 10 most common New Year’s resolutions. Fifteen percent of Americans said “spending more time with family” was one of their New Year’s resolutions, while the same percentage of U.S. adults said that “praying more” was among their top aspirations for 2026.

Other commonly cited new year’s resolutions for 2026 are “being happy” (23%), “eating healthier” (22%), “saving more money” (21%), “improving physical health” (21%), “losing weight” (17%), “improving mental health” (16%), “learning something new” (15%), “reading more” (15%), “improving relationships with friends or family” (13%), “paying down debts” (12%), “improving home or life organization” (12%), “traveling” (11%) and “quitting a bad habit” (11%). 

Broken down by political affiliation, Republicans (19%) were more likely than Democrats (15%) or independents (12%) to cite “praying more” as a New Year’s resolution. A higher share of voters who backed Republican President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election (18%) listed “praying more” as a New Year’s resolution than voters who supported Democrat Kamala Harris (11%). 

Similarly, 19% of Republicans identified “spending more time with family” as one of their New Year’s resolutions compared to 14% of Democrats and 13% of independents who said the same. Eighteen percent of Trump voters and 12% of Harris voters named “spending more time with family” as one of their goals for 2026. 

Among Americans’ less common New Year’s resolutions for 2026 was “focusing on spiritual matters,” with 9% of those surveyed naming it as one of their goals for the new year. Ten percent of independents included a commitment to spiritual matters as one of their priorities for the new year, making them slightly more likely than Republicans (9%) and Democrats (8%) to do so. Twelve percent of Trump voters and 8% of Harris voters want to focus more on spiritual matters in 2026. 

Other less common new year’s resolutions included in the questionnaire are “spending more time with friends” (9%), “pursuing a career goal” (9%), “pursuing a new hobby” (8%), “getting a new job” (8%), “moving” (6%), working to “volunteer more” (6%), “showing up on time more often” (4%) and “getting more involved politically” (4%). 

The YouGov survey collected responses from 1,104 American adults from Dec. 9–11 and has a margin of error of +/-4 percentage points. 

As Americans look ahead to 2026, “spending more time with family” and “praying more” are among the top 10 most common New Year’s resolutions. 

YouGov released a survey asking Americans about their views on 2025 as it comes to a close and their New Year’s resolutions for 2026. It found that a majority of Americans (51%) did not intend to make New Year’s resolutions for 2026, while 31% sought to set goals for the new year. 

While the most common New Year’s resolution for Americans was exercising more (25%), two resolutions related to spending more time with family and focusing on faith rounded out the top 10 most common New Year’s resolutions. Fifteen percent of Americans said “spending more time with family” was one of their New Year’s resolutions, while the same percentage of U.S. adults said that “praying more” was among their top aspirations for 2026.

Other commonly cited new year’s resolutions for 2026 are “being happy” (23%), “eating healthier” (22%), “saving more money” (21%), “improving physical health” (21%), “losing weight” (17%), “improving mental health” (16%), “learning something new” (15%), “reading more” (15%), “improving relationships with friends or family” (13%), “paying down debts” (12%), “improving home or life organization” (12%), “traveling” (11%) and “quitting a bad habit” (11%). 

Broken down by political affiliation, Republicans (19%) were more likely than Democrats (15%) or independents (12%) to cite “praying more” as a New Year’s resolution. A higher share of voters who backed Republican President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election (18%) listed “praying more” as a New Year’s resolution than voters who supported Democrat Kamala Harris (11%). 

Similarly, 19% of Republicans identified “spending more time with family” as one of their New Year’s resolutions compared to 14% of Democrats and 13% of independents who said the same. Eighteen percent of Trump voters and 12% of Harris voters named “spending more time with family” as one of their goals for 2026. 

Among Americans’ less common New Year’s resolutions for 2026 was “focusing on spiritual matters,” with 9% of those surveyed naming it as one of their goals for the new year. Ten percent of independents included a commitment to spiritual matters as one of their priorities for the new year, making them slightly more likely than Republicans (9%) and Democrats (8%) to do so. Twelve percent of Trump voters and 8% of Harris voters want to focus more on spiritual matters in 2026. 

Other less common new year’s resolutions included in the questionnaire are “spending more time with friends” (9%), “pursuing a career goal” (9%), “pursuing a new hobby” (8%), “getting a new job” (8%), “moving” (6%), working to “volunteer more” (6%), “showing up on time more often” (4%) and “getting more involved politically” (4%). 

The YouGov survey collected responses from 1,104 American adults from Dec. 9–11 and has a margin of error of +/-4 percentage points.