by Michelle Tuesday

Created on: February 07, 2009   Last Updated: July 22, 2011

January came and went, and two months into the year, those New Year's resolutions fell off the radar. After yet another failed attempt, you may be feeling discouraged or even depressed. This is understandable, but don't give up! You can achieve your goals, even if you feel like you never have before. Consider the reasons why personal goals fail, and you can take steps to avoid the pitfalls.

1. Your goals are poorly defined.
The first step in achieving your goals is to define them. Whether you want to lose weight, get out of debt, improve your relationships, write a novel, or quit smoking, you need to establish a clear definition of success. If you wrote two chapters in your novel last year, was that failure? What about if you only paid off one of your credit cards, instead of all four? If you have some sweeping concept, like "get out of debt," in your head, but you didn't define exactly what you would do and by when, you may feel like you haven't accomplished anything at all. And you need that feeling of accomplishment to keep you motivated.

Goals should be measurable. Don't just say you're going to exercise more. More than what? How much more? Be specific: I am going to exercise at least five times a week for twenty minutes each time. I will pay off one credit card by June 30th.

2. Your goals are not achievable.
What if you did state you would pay off all four credit cards? Is it failure if you "only" pay off one? Perhaps eliminating that much debt in one year is a lot to expect. If you set the bar too high, you are dooming yourself to failure. Make your goals reasonable, and you'll feel like a success when you achieve them. The baby steps will propel you forward; nothing motivates like checking something off the list. Alternatively, feeling like you failed will only discourage you and keep you from accomplishing anything at all.

That said, it's still okay not to meet all of your goals. Don't think of this as failure. You should look back over the last week, month, or year, and consider what you did accomplish. The list may surprise you. Consider also that goals can be dynamic, which means they can change at any time. Just because you decided on January 1st that you want to pay off your car by September 30th doesn't mean you can't change your mind and extend that. What if you lose your job? Get accepted into college? Experience a major life change, like a marriage or a pregnancy? Life happens. Adjust your goals as you go.

3. You don't have a plan.
For some, "plan"

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