Many people make New Year Resolutions to lose weight and get in shape.  Unfortunately, by the end of January most people have given up on their resolutions.

I think one of the biggest problems with resolutions is that they tend to be all or none.  It’s hard to change a behavior or habit all at once.  Some people do achieve their resolutions by going cold turkey on a negative behavior, but for most of us quitting something cold turkey just doesn’t work.  Instead of making resolutions to completely change a behavior all at once, try setting smarter short term and long term goals.

Now, there is definitely a method of goal setting that is more effective than just wishing for success, and that method uses the acronym S.M.A.R.T.  SMART goals stand for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.  Below is an example of how to use this method to achieve your health goals during the New Year or during any other time of the year for that matter.  Instead of making resolutions, set SMART goals.

Specific:Your goals must be specific. If you can clearly define what you want in specific terms it is much easier to achieve it.

You could have a goal to lose weight, but this is not specific enough. Technically, when you go to the bathroom or sweat you lose weight, but that's not what most people are thinking when they say they want to lose weight.  So be as specific as possible when setting goals, put a number with your goals if that makes them more specific.

Measurable:You must be able to measure a goal to make it affective as a motivator towards progress. Setting a goal to feel better or get in better shape is not measurable, so there is no way to know when you've achieved the goal.

Instead of setting a goal simply to get in better shape, set a measurable goal such as, "I run 1 mile without stopping in less than 10 minutes by December 2009" or "I perform 20 push ups in a row by March 20009". These are measurable goals for getting in better shape, and being able to measure progress is a great motivator.

Attainable:This is a tricky element in goal setting. If you are setting out to do something you have never achieved before, then it is hard to truly know if it's attainable.

If a goal is outrageous, it loses its motivational power. A general thought is that short-term goals should be 10-25% of the long term goal. Do your best to set a goal that you believe you can achieve, and then challenge yourself a little by adding 5-10% to that goal.

Relevant:This is also a tricky element of goal setting. By relevant, your goals must be relevant to your overall family, work, and personal situation. Your goals must also be relevant to your values and beliefs.

Let's say that you have a friend that has achieved a certain goal, it may be hard for you to achieve the same goal if it's not as relevant to your personal situation. Your goals must be intensely personal and relevant to your life.

Time Bound:Having a deadline is an important part of motivation. We all know the feeling of urgency when we have a major project to complete and little time to do it. Without a deadline, there is no sense of urgency, and urgency propels us to achieve higher degrees of success.

Having a time frame for the completion of goal is often a neglected part of New Year Resolutions, and I think you should give yourself 12 months to achieve many goals or new behaviors.

So, think about the above criteria when you're making New Year Resolutions (or setting goals at any other time for that matter).  Instead of trying to change a negative behavior all at once, set short-term and long-term SMART goals.