by Helen Gray

Created on: February 25, 2009   Last Updated: May 18, 2009

You wake up on the first of the year full of resolve. This year you are going to shed 30 pounds, run a marathon, master Spanish, quit smoking, stop eating junk food and cut back on the booze. Two weeks later you discover you've put on five pounds over the holidays and still don't have that new pair of jogging shoes. Spanish for Dummies is sitting on your bookshelf but it's a lot more tempting to kick back with a cigarette, a glass of red, and a good video. Once again you've gained nothing but a nagging sense of failure and a new resolve; never to make another new year's resolution again.

If this scene sounds familiar don't despair. New year's resolutions usually aim to change a deeply ingrained behavior. Our goals are meant to be challenging. After all, if it was easy we wouldn't make such a big deal out of it year after year. Whether you dread making new resolutions, or feel like you've failed at this year's already, these five easy strategies will ensure that you don't set yourself up for failure from the start.

1. Be positive
The end of the year inspires many of us to look back at our lives and catalog our achievements, and failures. As a result, our new year's resolution lists are often based on highly emotional negative thoughts like "I'm fat and ugly." The resulting resolution is an all or nothing, 180 degree response. In an attempt to turn our lives around we start making statements like "I must lose thirty pounds," or, "I will stop eating junk food." Negative thoughts like these set us up to feel guilty and resentful. It's hard to feel good about going to the gym when the one thought running through the back of your head is that you must exercise because you are fat. It's also hard to feel happy when you are constantly resentful about denying yourself something pleasurable like a piece of chocolate.

Framing your goals in a positive way lets you feel good about what you are doing. By telling yourself, "I am going to lose weight so I can run around with my children," you have combined your goal with a positive emotional end-state.

2. Aim low (and then step it up)
A big goal can seem overwhelming, so start by planning the steps needed to reach your goal. You can't just wake up one morning and run a marathon; first you need to be able to run five miles, and then ten. A full hour at the gym might be overwhelming at first, but 10 minutes on a treadmill three times a week is possible. Keep challenging yourself by doing just a little bit more each week

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