By SANDRA DICK

January's resolutions can be hard to stick to, but where there's a will to succeed there's a way to achieve them

ANOTHER year and another string of New Year resolutions. What will it be this time around? Stop smoking, lose weight or get fit?

Change jobs perhaps? Maybe change your relationship – or change your whole life?

While most of us spend the first few weeks of January plotting our new and perfect life, hardly any of us will actually have the staying power to see those resolutions through to next year.

According to a study of 700 people by Professor Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire, only 22 per cent were able to stick to their resolutions and reach their goals.

While the rest fell back into bad habits, he noted that the others succeeded by simply breaking their goals in small, manageable chunks and rewarding themselves each time they achieved progress.

Tracking their achievements – and getting friends and family on board – helped them get what they wanted.

It sounds simple enough. Yet even armed with that knowledge, most of us will still spend February trying to remember what on earth this year's resolution was supposed to be.

But if you are determined to make 2010 the year you do succeed, it could pay to listen to what Edinburgh experts have to say. As part of our New Year, New You series, SANDRA DICK speaks to the people whose job is to make you succeed.

STICK TO THAT RESOLUTION
Gillian Brown is a former human resources executive and management consultant who runs Edinburgh-based New-U Coaching.

She says: "We all have different drivers, ambitions and motivations. However, for those who want to purely focus on improving their wellbeing and happiness or their overall physical health and fitness, it is important you are clear about what you want your life to look and feel like during 2010 and beyond.

"Most of us start January with a long list of resolutions which by the end of the month have been forgotten about or hidden away hoping to never appear again.

"Usually by March we feel like failures, our energy is low and we have lost our drive to make any changes. So we just go back to our old ways, old habits and old ways of thinking.

"We run right back to the warmth of our comfort zones, hoping our friends, family or colleagues forget about our grandiose ideas and ideals of getting fit, losing that extra stone, stopping smoking, paying off those credit cards, changing job or sorting out our lives for good.

"We have to let go of all our old fears, all our old habits and all our old expectations and perceptions of ourselves and embrace the new year."

She says it's important not to set unrealistic targets but do give yourself a goal that will stretch you.

"This goal needs to be enough to keep you motivated and inspired about what you are setting out to achieve. Word it as though it has already happened – your goal should be in the present tense. This has an immediate positive effect on you as a person, the power of intention will change your subconscious and increase your motivation."

She next advises planning for success by setting yourself a number of milestones to aim for.

"Review each milestone and make sure they are going to work for you to ensure you are on target for achieving that goal. Then set at least three actions you need to take to reach each milestone, starting with the first."

Don't expect immediate success, she adds: "Change is not going to happen overnight, therefore it is essential that you do not rush or put too much pressure on yourself.

"The key is sustained change by taking small steps to making big changes.

"Always remember, a journey of a thousand miles starts with small steps. Apply this to your life and you will be amazed at what you can achieve by taking small. manageable steps."