As the sun rises on a new year, I’m already on my second blog post. That’s good, because I made a resolution to blog at least monthly. Ever since the calendar turned to 2026, I have been busier than ever touring spaces and negotiating deals.
And just about every conversation I have starts with “Happy New Year.” Then, it moves to the inevitable question of when is it too late to say “Happy New Year.” Larry David popularized it on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” and it seems to have grown into a worldwide obsession. According to Larry, it’s about three days. Personally, I think it’s about two weeks.
So I decided to stick to another one of my New Year’s resolutions and make (borderline) productive use of Artificial Intelligence. I prompted Chat GPT. They responed with these expected phases:
- January 1–3 – Confident. Enthusiastic. You mean it.
- January 4–7 – Still fine. Slightly less sparkly, but no one is judging.
- January 8–14 – You pause before saying it. You say it anyway. Both parties experience mild discomfort but move on.
- January 15–31 – You say “Happy New Year” the way people say “no worries” after something has clearly caused worries.
- When in doubt, soften it with humor or context, (can you believe it’s already…?) and it works.
As I tend to be humorous all the time, (just ask my kids…or maybe not) I should be covered through July or August.
Now that we are heading into the final week of January, and I have stuck to my resolution to use AI, I was also interested in how long people keep their New Years Resolutions.
On average, most people abandon their New Year’s resolutions within 1–2 months, and many much sooner. Commonly cited patterns from behavioral studies and surveys:
- 25% quit within the first week
- 40–45% quit by the end of January
- Only about 8–20% are still sticking to their resolution by year’s end
- A frequently quoted milestone is January 19 (“Quitters Day”), when motivation tends to drop sharply.
Sunrise January 23, 2026 – Deerfield Beach, FL
So, Happy New Year. Can you believe it’s already January 23? I can still wish you a great 2026. I’ll see if I can keep my resolutions to make my life easier with AI and to keep providing the hard-hitting quality infomation you only get on KenTrends.
