New year's resolutions: Always an uphill climb

With the close of 2010 just days away, many of us will plan for the arrival of 2011 by making a new year's resolution or two.

But given the fear — and past experience — that our best-laid resolutions will fade away before they even get off the ground, we often dismiss new year's goal-making as irrelevant and useless.

WHAT TO DO: Now, in January, in February and beyond

Still, experts say that we tend to do better with our resolutions than we give ourselves credit for, and that with a few tweaks our resolutions can become part of a valuable annual self-inventory that can have a major payoff.

"Many institutions do an end-of-the-year strategic analysis, where they take stock before going forward into the new year," says Temple University psychologist Frank Farley, a past president of the American Psychological Association.

Likewise, this is the perfect time for us as individuals to take "a personal assessment of ourselves and decide how things have gone in the past year by asking, 'How are my relationships going?' 'How's my work life going?' 'How's my health?' " he says. In this culture, we "pretty much accept that a fresh start will occur in the new year and that we can put the old behind us."

The new year represents a tremendous opportunity for self-improvement, agrees psychology professor John Norcross of the University of Scranton.

According to research by Norcross and colleagues, 75% of resolution-makers will be successful in mid-January, 50% will still be sticking to it by the end of the month and 40%-46% can claim success six months out.

"If you look at it as the glass being half full, that nearly 50% are making their resolutions stick for at least six months is impressive," says Norcross, whose research examines self-change in general and new year's resolutions in particular.

And it's even more striking, given that the typical new year's resolutions deal with smoking, exercise, finances and similar "life-sustaining issues," he adds.

Research also shows that even when people give up on a resolution, whatever initial success they have achieved helps lay the groundwork for later improvement. "People build on the small successes," says Norcross. "They learn how not to relapse quickly, they learn what works and what doesn't work" to keep them motivated and on track.

Still, many of us will fail early in our resolution attempt, and one of the most common culprits is unrealistic expectations. "We set our goals way too high," perhaps because we "get carried away at the moment we make them," says San Diego psychologist Tracy Alderman.

"Anything sounds possible when you're celebrating on New Year's Eve, even losing 30 pounds in a month," she says. "But it doesn't happen that easily. You have to keep your goals realistic."

Setting short- and long-term goals helps, she says, as does developing a plan to achieve your goals and recording the plan on paper. Documenting your effort "helps to keep you on task."

Also, consider enlisting a co-conspirator or two — family or friends or even an online group — to support and encourage you, Farley says. "Sharing your goals is helpful. Often it's hard to keep to these goals long-term on your own."

Finally, because "there's only so much time we can bring to each commitment," Norcross says it's best "not to dilute" your effort with a laundry list of resolutions. Research shows you have more success with just one or two.