Why We Break New Year's Resolutions and How to Fix Them

This list is not just another New Year's Resolution list. I will also provide you a way to get that kick-start into completing your resolutions. As a former adult learning instructor on time management and self-paced learning, my experiences may be able to help you keep those commitments for longer than two weeks.

1: Figure out your learning style. No matter what the resolution is, it will require some education. Think about when you were in school or when you trained for your current job. Were you a vicious note-taker, or did you prefer tape recorders? Did you doodle while you listened, or did you read the textbooks over and over again until it sunk in? Whatever style worked for you-audio, visual, repetition, hands on - you'll need to apply it in keeping your resolution. If you are a visual person like me, you would do better with sticky notes on your computer monitor, steering wheel, or bathroom door.

2: Commit time to yourself. Get a chart out that breaks down your day in 30 minute increments. You can use the "calendar" function on Microsoft office and print out a weekly schedule, or do it by hand. Write down everything you did in the past seven days for each half-hour block. Wherever you see a half hour of time to yourself, that's the block you star-circle-underline and put "me time" in it.

This may seem impossible to you, but look around: who ISN'T busy? And of all those people, do you see self-improvement among them? The successful resolution-keepers can do it because they have devoted time to themselves. They take walks. They do hobbies. They not only find time for themselves, they create it. Whatever it is you want to do, give yourself a half-hour everyday to work towards completion. New Year's Resolutions don't happen in a day. But imagine 365 half-hour blocks to complete it.

3: Be specific and realistic. "I want to lose weight" can be done in two days before you gain it back. "I want to lose 10 pounds" can also be done in two weeks before it creeps back up. "I want to lose 10 unhealthy pounds and keep it off" is more tangible, but still not complete. "I want to lose 10 unhealthy pounds by 10 April" is more like it. Apply this to ANY resolution and you will get better results. How you finish your New Year's Resolution is up to you, but know exactly where you're going.

4. Tell your true best friends. Sometimes a little peer pressure can go a long way. Sometimes, though, we get bogged down by our own negativity and other people's negativity towards keeping promises. But informing the positive people in your lives- be it the doorman, your pastor or your five year-old son- having people on your side never hurt. Not one successful person by any measure has done it on his or her own. That is the same for New Year's Resolutions.

5. Allow room for setbacks. This is how people end up breaking their New Year's Resolutions. They don't do a combination of 3 and 4. They give themselves an impossible goal like "quit smoking tomorrow" and allow negative people to say "I told you so" when they start smoking the next day. Keeping a true resolution can be hard, so expect a moment or two of weakness. But by having positive people in your life and making it more realistic as it goes can get you on the real goal: self-improvement. This doesn't mean you can cut yourself any slack if you know you can do better. Just do better.

6. Buy The Reward today. First, get a reward in mind. Then buy it now and give it to someone you trust. It is one thing to want to reach a goal for self-improvement, but it's another to have a tangible reward in site. And it's even more motivating to look at that reward in the face.