The 5 Tricks to Keeping Your New Year's Resolutions

By April Hussar,SELF magazine

Happy New Year! Did you make a resolution (or several)? Planning to? Already break them? No worries!

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First of all, don't believe the cynics: Whether you'd like to lose weight or score your flattest abs yet, it's not a waste of time to make New Year's resolutions. According to University of Scranton Psychology Professor John C. Norcross, PhD, coauthor of Changing for Good, 40 to 46 percent of New Year's resolvers will be successful six months later.

What's more, research shows that you are 10 times more likely to change by making New Year's resolutions, compared to non-resolvers with identical goals and comparable motivation.

So what's the trick to making sure you're one of the successful statistics? According to Norcross, it's important to understand that what gets you motivated in the first couple of days is not what keeps you maintaining the behavior change.

"There's a continental divide," says Norcross, "between what works to get you motivated and started, and what you need to do to maintain that over the long haul. Virtually everyone can initiate a behavioral goal -- stop smoking, eat healthfully, exercise, etc. The real problem is maintenance -- how do you 'stick to it'"?

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This "stick-to-it" concept is known as "adherence" and, according to Norcross, is really about maintenance and compliance -- how to keep yourself going after the initial excitement and enthusiasm wears off. Norcross says it takes three to six months before a change becomes routine. For a complete, 6-week plan for sticking to your New Year's resolutions, check out SELF's guide on keeping your resolutions all year. And here are five tricks to start implementing right now:

1. Set reasonable goals. If you've resolved to "run a marathon," "write a novel" or "lose 15 pounds" -- that's OK! Just take those big goals and "break them up into attainable stepping stones," Norcorss says. Then make sure you reinforce yourself for progress with the smaller goals -- plan out rewards and treats when you hit a month of consistent workouts or write the first 10 pages.

2. Create a schedule. As SELF's guide recommends, "Plot out a monthly budget or schedule a week's worth of workouts each Sunday so you don't have to think about how to fit it all in." You're much more likely to go for a run or cook a healthy meal if it's right there on your calendar, rather than a vague intention that can easily get lost during a busy day.

3. Track your progress. According to Norcross, self-monitoring increases the probability that you'll keep your resolution. Don't keep your accomplishments in your head; find a way of recording them and keeping that record in plain sight to cheer yourself along your way. A journal or (even better) a cute wall calendar would work great for this.

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4. Buddy up! One of the best things you can do is share your goals with people who will support you -- and it's even better if they're working toward the same goals. As Norcross says, "the buddy system works!" A buddy can be a friend who wants to write a book too (share pages with each other), a neighbor who wants to train for a half-marathon (make running dates) or a co-worker who wants to slim down (plan healthy lunches together!).

5. Don't give up! This may sound obvious, but it can be tempting to give up if you don't see results soon enough. In fact, Norcross says you should expect yourself to slip up, and it's OK when you do! Don't wallow in self-blame -- studies show self-blame often leads to giving up all together, says Norcross. Just know that slip-ups are an understandable part of the process, and use them as motivation to get back on track.

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