New Year’s resolutions are easy to make but notoriously hard to keep — which is why this year, you might want to consider turning to one of the best AI chatbots to support your goals. But with so many options available, which assistant gives the most practical, motivating, and sustainable advice?
We put three of the most popular models — ChatGPT-5.2, Claude 4.5 Sonnet, and Gemini 3.0 — to the test using nine real-world resolution scenarios. From the vague goal-setter to the time-strapped parent, we evaluated which bot delivers actionable plans, emotional intelligence and systems that last beyond January.
Whether you’re designing a whole-life vision or just need to stick to a daily walk, here’s which AI came out on top and why.
1. The vague starter
Prompt: Help me come up with meaningful New Year’s resolutions for 2025 based on common life priorities.
ChatGPT was empathetic and offered emotional framing with a flexible structure. It focused on reducing guilt and pressure through tips like "Notice patterns instead of judging them” and "Spend intentionally on joy."
Gemini offered actionable tips with supportive frameworks. I really liked the emphasis on concepts "Move for Joy, Not Punishment," scheduling "Worry Time," and the "Create Before You Consume" rule. And, crucially, it provided methods like the "Two-Day Rule" and "Habit Stacking" to ensure the resolutions actually stick.
Claude excelled at specific, modest actions integrated into daily life, such as scheduling preventive health appointments, practicing follow-up questions in conversations and automating savings so you "never see the money."
Winner: Gemini wins for a more direct response that best fulfilled the core request. It provided a curated list of specific, actionable resolutions organized by clear life priorities.
2. The accountability seeker
Prompt: I want to exercise more in 2025, but I always give up by February. Help me create a realistic plan that I'll actually stick to.
ChatGPT legitimized low-energy workouts to prevent “all-or-nothing” spiraling. It offered psychological framing and flexible systems, and it reinforced these concepts.
Gemini delivered a system-based, phased plan designed to defeat the “February Cliff.” It introduced the “Too Small to Fail” Plan with a “Floor Goal” (a workout so easy you can't say no) and enforced it with the “Never Miss Twice” Rule.
Claude focused on diagnostic and principle-based planning. It began by asking reflective questions to identify past failure points, then built a plan on timeless principles like starting “absurdly small,” tying exercise to an existing routine and planning for obstacles in advance. Its strength is in creating a personalized, mindful foundation.
Winner: ChatGPT wins for building a complete, emotionally intelligent system tailored to the user’s stated history of quitting. It’s the most holistic and sustainable framework presented.
3. The overwhelmed multitasker
Prompt: I want to improve my health, save money, read more, and spend less time on my phone. How do I tackle all of these without burning out?
ChatGPT created a single, integrated framework where habits support each other. It identified a keystone habit and demonstrated how each goal plugs into that system.
Gemini identified reducing phone time as the keystone habit that naturally solved the others.
Claude approached this prompt strategically and directly challenged the attempt to tackle all four goals at once, advocating to "start with one thing" and master it first
Winner: Gemini wins for an approach that tackles goals in isolation, connecting them through specific, complementary daily stacks — like a “Digital Sunset” paired with an “Audio Walk.” It also introduced a practical staggered rollout across January, February and March, building habits one at a time.
4. The past failure analyzer
Prompt: I've failed at the same resolution (losing weight) for five years straight. What am I doing wrong, and how should I approach it differently?
ChatGPT focused on the flawed system design over personal failure, highlighting traps like chasing outcomes over behaviors and all-or-nothing thinking.
Gemini offered standout tactics like the "Crowd Out" method (adding protein/veggies first) to avoid restriction, replacing the scale with "Non-Scale Victories" and the crucial "Never Two Mistakes" protocol to prevent a single slip from becoming a multi-day binge.
Claude delivered an approach that began not with answers, but with critical, specific questions to uncover the user's unique failure pattern (e.g., "When do things fall apart, and why?").
Winner: Gemini — for its powerful, psychologically astute framework that directly attacks the core mental traps (restriction, scale obsession, the "ruined day" spiral) with actionable, identity-based strategies designed to build lasting habits.
5. The specificity request
Prompt: Turn ‘I want to be healthier’ into 3–5 specific, measurable goals with monthly milestones that feel realistic for a normal person.
ChatGPT offered a plan that is both holistic and sustainable in design, framing health through four manageable pillars: consistent movement, energy-supporting eating, sleep, and stress reduction.
Gemini was highly specific with data-driven "floor goals,” a plan made up of quantifiable metrics, a clear phased timeline (Build, Ramp Up, Maintenance), and clever behavioral triggers.
Claude provided a simple, focused, and psychologically forgiving plan to help make the milestones achievable.
Winner: Gemini wins for transforming a vague wish into a precise, phased and executable plan.
6. The anti-resolution person
Prompt: I hate New Year's resolutions because they feel arbitrary. Convince me otherwise without clichés — or suggest a genuinely better alternative.
ChatGPT made a pragmatic case for the New Year as a rare "collective pause" and memorable anchor.
Gemini suggested scientific and strategic framing, grounding its defense in the "Fresh Start Effect" (Temporal Landmarks) and then offered logical alternatives.
Claude approached the prompt with a down-to-earth and permission-giving response that bluntly admits the social mechanics behind resolutions.
Winner: Gemini wins for its compelling, evidence-based rationale and for providing the most innovative and strategically sound alternatives that logically bypass the arbitrariness of January 1st.
7. The busy parent
Prompt: I'm a working parent with two kids under 5. What are realistic resolutions I can actually achieve with almost no free time?
ChatGPT provided a comprehensive suite of micro-habits designed for survival mode (ideal for busy parents).
Gemini delivered tactics with a zero-time solution that reclaims energy or health within existing constraints.
Claude offered an empathetic, permission-giving and strategically reductionist approach. It reframed the goal not as self-improvement but as strategic resource allocation and surviving with grace.
Winner: Claude wins for its specific, actionable and emotionally astute hacks that directly address the unique, unspoken challenges of parenting young children.
8. The accountability system builder
Prompt: Help me design a lightweight system to track my resolutions and stay motivated throughout the entire year, not just January.
ChatGPT built a helpful system on weekly check-ins with just three reflective questions and uses monthly themes to keep the approach fresh without adding new goals.
Gemini offered a highly tactile, visual and analog system designed for maximum visibility and supportive reinforcement.
Claude took a minimalist, practical approach again, focusing on rhythm rather than rigidity.
Winner: Gemini wins for the most concrete, multi-sensory system with physical concepts (wall calendar, paperclip jars, emergency cards) that offer tangible momentum.
9. The deeper meaning seeker
Prompt: Instead of surface-level goals, help me identify what I want my life to look like in one year and work backwards to create meaningful resolutions.
ChatGPT approached this prompt with a deeply introspective and emotionally intelligent plan, focusing on how life feels rather than what is achieved
Gemini delivered a highly structured, practical and pillar-specific plan.
Claude took an open-ended and exploratory approach to help the user paint a picture of a realistically satisfying future without imposing structure.
Winner: ChatGPT wins for its thoughtful approach that connects resolutions to how someone wants to feel and who they want to become.
Overall winner: Gemini
After testing nine common resolution prompts, Gemini won the overall crown for the best New Year’s Resolution support. But an important aspect of this testing to note: no single AI won every round. Instead, each excelled in distinct ways depending on what the user needed.
Gemini 3.0 was the most consistently practical, winning the most tests of the nine. It shines when you want structured, step-by-step plans with clear metrics and behavioral psychology built in.
ChatGPT-5.2 was the most emotionally intelligent, which is especially useful for those requiring deeper reflection, identity shifts and sustainable mindset changes.
Claude 4.5 Sonnet was the most grounded, winning at times for offering realistic, permission-based advice.
Ultimately, your choice depends on your resolution style:
Pick Gemini for actionable systems and tracking.
Pick ChatGPT for meaningful reflection and adaptive habits.
Pick Claude for compassionate, realistic adjustments to an already full life.
No matter which you choose, the best resolution might be this: use the AI that matches not just your goal, but your season of life. That’s how you make change last all year long.
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