Over years I had been developing my own system for achieving my lifes goals by cherry picking ideas from authors I had read. The conclusion I was slowly coming to had been reached and written down almost half a century before I was born!

In Wallace's own words, "...if there is a particular book you need to read it will be placed in your hands at right time." How right he was.

How many light bulbs went off in my head? 5/5

2. Supplement your annual "resolution" with near-term goals

A resolution to lose 100 pounds is not only unrealistic, but it is too long-term a goal to be truly motivating. Odds are you'll find yourself sitting around for 9 or 10 months taking little action, living in denial, or perhaps forgetting about your resolution altogether.

Try supplementing your annual goals with monthly, or even weekly, goals. Although it's good to a have a long-term vision of what you want to accomplish, research shows that these more near-term goals lead to better performance, greater confidence, enhanced persistence, and more satisfaction with life than longer-term goals.

3. Create plans for success

Near-term goals enhance performance because people work harder as deadlines approach, and because they spur process of making plans for success.

Let's face it: most people who resolve to lose weight or start exercising don't really flesh out strategies for accomplishing their goals. They may buy a diet book or join gym, but that's about it. And of course, that explains why millions of diet books are sold, yet we still have an obesity epidemic, and health clubs are overflowing in January but back to normal by March.

So if you are resolving to lose weight, set some goals to accomplish in first few weeks of January, and flesh out plans and strategies for accomplishing them. Joining a gym is great, but you are more likely to actually go to gym if you make plans to exercise with a workout buddy, or commit to twice-a-week workouts with a trainer, or buy a pedometer to measure how many steps you take on treadmill.

4. Create a plan for slips and setbacks

A strategy for setbacks is just as important as a strategy for success. People who maintain their NYRs for at least two years report an average of 14 slips or setbacks during that time.

The key, of course, is rebounding from setbacks, rather than letting them snowball into full-blown relapses. First, try to avoid all-or-none thinking that triggers snowball effect. Then, create a "setback plan" that you will enact at first sign of a slip.

For example, try filling in blank: If I start an eating binge that will undermine my weight loss resolution, I will _____ . Examples might include calling a friend for support, or temporarily distracting myself by going to a movie.

REFERENCES

For detailed references for research cited in this article, and more proven strategies for keeping your NYRs, see Psychological Foundation of Success: A Harvard-Trained Scientist Separates Science of Success from Self-Help Snake Oil by Stephen Kraus, Ph.D.