Short abstract: Do successful goals have different properties than unsuccessful goals? In this study, we used text mining to characterize the content of 1090 New Year’s Resolutions that were set in January of 2016 and compare the content of successful (39%) and unsuccessful (61%) resolutions as reported a year later. Long abstract:Do successful goals have different properties than unsuccessful goals? Experimental research has identified goal properties that affect performance (e.g., specificity, approach/avoidance) in work and laboratory settings. Very little is known about how goal properties function in spontaneously set goals. In this study, we used text mining to characterize the content of 1090 New Year’s Resolutions, and examine differences between those that were reported successful (39%) and those reported unsuccessful (61%) at the end of the year. In a four-part online survey that spanned a calendar year, 413 Mturk workers completed detailed surveys about themselves and their resolutions. Most resolutions were rated by participants as related to physical well-being (45%) or mental well-being (39%), followed by money and finances (27%), family life (17%), social life (17%), career (12%), spiritual life (7%), societal duties (7%), and education (6%). Word frequencies similarly indicated that the most prevalent words related to physical health (“weight”, “exercise”, “lbs”, “eat”, “healthier”, “smoking”, “shape”), and fewer related to money (“money”, “save”) and other domains (“family”, “job”). Most resolutions (62%) were new, and had not been set in previous years. Despite high levels of commitment (62% of resolutions were rated as 5/5) and confidence (46% were rated as 5/5) in January, most resolutions were not successful. About 50% of resolutions were not reported on in the final survey due to attrition. Of the remaining, 39% were successful at the end of the year and 61% were unsuccessful because they were still in progress (33%), were put on hold (21%), or were deliberately quit (7%). Linguistic content analysis in LIWC revealed that successful and unsuccessful resolutions were more similar than different, and the effects of goal qualities were negligible compared to the effects of individual differences in self-regulation (e.g., trait self-control). In everyday goal pursuits with spontaneously set goals, how goals are phrased may matter less than motivational and individual difference variables.