A New Year's resolution is a tradition, in which a person resolves to continue good practices, change an undesired trait or behavior, to accomplish a personal goal, or otherwise improve their life. Recent success rates show approximately 35% of participants who failed their New Year's Resolutions admitted they had unrealistic goals, approximately 33% of participants didn't keep track of their progress, and approximately 23% forgot about them; about one in 10 claimed they made too many resolutions. Also, men achieved their goal of approximately 22% more often when participating in the New Year goal setting. So with these statistics, “How is your New Year Resolution working for you?”. Here are a few tips for successfully achieving your resolutions.

• Make it specific-Eating better and exercising more are all nice ideas, but they're too general and don't give you a plan of action. Writing a resolution is clear and precise when answering the following question: I will [Behavior] at [Time] in [Location]. This provides a simple way to apply strategy to your habits. If you want to eat better, be specific: Resolve to add a fruit or vegetable to your lunch every day, limit fast food to once per week, or have dessert once a week.

• Make it Possible-Avoid resolutions that sound great but are unattainable. Remember to make them something you will enjoy. They can still be hard, but that doesn't mean they have to make you miserable. To eat better, put that bowl of fruit right next to your lunch bag, so you grab an apple or orange every day. Hate apples? Don't pick apples. Pick a fruit you are likely to eat.

• Allow yourself to fail-Everyone screws up. Expect to have occasional slips. But don't let the occasional missed exercise class or Friday workplace donut throw you off course. And if you do slip? Focus on getting back on track, not the slip. 

• Set yourself up for success- If you're resolved to spend less time on your phone but grab it as soon as you wake up, put your phone in another room at night. Oh, it's your alarm, you say? Buy an alarm clock. They cost $6 now.

• Know Yourself- Decide the type of person you want to be: A healthy person? A strong person? A writer? A musician? Then prove it to yourself with small wins over time. Gym classes, weight lifting, writing, practicing. Every time you do something toward the goal of you who want to be, tell yourself that you are becoming that person.

• Make it public, show and don’t tell- If you're surrounded by supportive friends and family, making your goals public and asking for accountability can help.

• Change it up- If your goal is going well for you start by adding elements since this should be a year-long goal.

Are you a goal getter or just a goal setter? Prove them wrong by crushing your goals!

The Dream Style

cnn.com