New Years Day is just passed, a time when many people resolved to change their behavior. The process of examining our lives and resolving to make positive changes can be an important step towards improving our circumstances. Unfortunately, only a small fraction of those who resolve to change behaviors will still be following their new behaviors even a few months into the year. Most people lose their staying power or motivation, and return to their old habits after only a few months.

However, some people do succeed! If you made some New Years resolutions and are now struggling to maintain them, or have already given up on them, here are some quick tips that may help you be successful:

Changing our lifestyle can be difficult but there are certain factors that can set you up to be successful. Two important ones are internal motivation and social support. When those factors are part of your planning, you are more likely to set and maintain goals that are achievable long-term.

Studies show that people who are internally motivated are more likely to be successful making a behavior change than those operating on external motivations. This just means doing something for yourself, rather than doing it for others. Examples of internal motivation are health, personal values, principals that matter to you, and even curiosity. Examples of external motivators would be societal or family pressure, or a doctor’s orders. For many of us, changing a behavior is motivated by a mixture of internal and external factors. There is nothing wrong with having your initial motivation for change be kicked-off by an external motivation, such as advice from your doctor. But it can help increase the chances of making a change permanent if you get in touch with the things that really matter to you.

Social support is important as well. Receiving support from others and spending time with others who share the same goals as you can be very beneficial. This can be family, friends, co-workers, or individuals you find at a class or even online. Research indicates our behavior is affected by what those around us are doing. It is also helpful to think about how those around us can help us, or how they might harm us by their actions. For example, you may have a relative or friend or co-worker that uses offers of candy or cookies as a means to express their affection. If one of your resolutions is to avoid over-eating sugary snacks, it can help to talk with a friend and ask them please not to make these offers to you, and that your refusal is not a reflection of your lack of appreciation for your friendship, but that you are struggling to improve your diet.

Another common problem with New Year’s resolutions is that they tend to be too ambitious to be achievable. Most of us get discouraged if we can’t see progress towards goals fairly quickly. So if our resolutions are too absolute (“I’m going to be nice to everyone always”) or too ambitious (“I’m going to lose 100 pounds in January) we get discouraged and give up.

So, set reasonable, specific, and measureable goals this New Years, and be sure to identify your internal motivators to make this change. Find support by talking with family or friends, or seek out a class, team, or support group to help you succeed.