Resolutions failed already? 5 Raleigh solutions to get your goals back on track

Why It Fails

This resolution usually comes loaded with guilt and unrealistic expectations. From committing to new gym memberships, hours of endless running and starting to calorie count, it can often involve doing things you hate and which don’t realistically fit into your routine. It can be easy to abandon once motivation your dips.

The Raleigh Solution

On a Raleigh Expedition, you inadvertently will get fitter doing active work that matters and which is a whole lot more adventurous than the gym. While in Costa Rica, South Africa or Borneo, you might spend days digging trenches or foundations on project sites, cutting back invasive vegetation or trekking long distances over nearly three weeks. Instead of forcing yourself into a gym routine, being active becomes meaningful and by the end of your Expedition, this gap year experience makes you realise how much stronger you’ve become without it ever being the main goal.

Why It Fails

Just writing down goals about growth and confidence won’t magically make self doubt disappear. Often we fail to feel like a more confident version of ourselves because we fail to make the changes that can make it happen. Wanting growth but refusing to step out of your comfort zone rarely leads to progress.

The Raleigh Solution

Confidence is built when you put yourself in situations out of your comfort zone, which prove what you are capable of. On an Expedition, you’ll solve problems in real time and work in a team. You will take on the role of Day Leader, planning the day, coordinating your team and making decisions that affect everyone. Through taking on responsibility and learning from mistakes on Expedition, your confidence and leadership will sky rocket – you will have earnt it!

Why It Fails

This resolution relies entirely on self-control in a world designed to keep you scrolling. Phones have become so engrained in our everyday lives, with constant notifications and pressure for connection making a digital detox incredibly hard to start and stick to long-term.

The Raleigh Solution

Raleigh Expeditions are designed to create distance from constant digital noise and bring you back to real connection in nature and the world. The Raleigh programme proactively encourages digital detoxing and is structured to limit screen time in a supportive environment. 62% of our Venturers in 2024 they felt being without their phone on Raleigh improved their mental health and 85% agreed or strongly agreed that they have enjoyed not having their phones on them while on their gap year. So on Raleigh you can finally curb your screen time, boost your wellbeing and set healthier habits you can follow when you get home.

Read now: Read more on the stats in our 2024 Impact Report

Why It Fails

When you feel under pressure from the world, it’s not often helpful to load even more pressure onto yourself. Negative self-talk will tell you that you should have your future mapped out from the moment you’re choosing A-levels, filling in a UCAS application or finishing university. But when you’ve barely had the chance to explore the world and what you’re capable of, it can be difficult to be sure where your future direction lies.

The Raleigh Solution

A gap year gives you space to find out what’s right for YOU. A Raleigh Expedition focuses on building transferable skills across industries and careers, all while on an adventure in South Africa, Borneo or Costa Rica. These skills don’t lock you into one path, instead they create options. Rather than demanding a perfect plan right away, Raleigh gives you experience and confidence which can inspire new passions and what you will do next. As with so many Venturers, Expedition can help you find what you enjoy, what you’re good at and what you want to do in your future life and career.

Venturer Stories: Read Emily’s story on how Raleigh changed her life. 

Why It Fails

Many go into a New Year feeling like they want to give back more in the year ahead. Getting more involved in charity work or volunteering to support others can sometimes be more challenging than we think when trying to balance the pressures and responsibilities of everyday life, meaning that it can be hard to give back as much as we’d like to.

The Raleigh Solution

On a Raleigh Expedition, “giving back” won’t be something you have to fit in. Your time and energy will be focused on volunteering abroad on real projects that make a genuine and positive difference to the lives of others. For example, you might support the building of new classrooms in Costa Rica’s indigenous communities, or help develop community centres in Borneo, or even support wildlife conservation in South Africa. You work alongside others, all partaking in projects that support real people in communities that have requested that support. Making a difference stops being an abstract thought and starts becoming something you can take real pride in in 2026.

Read now: Find out how our projects make an impact in our 2024 Impact Report