Before we get into the list, it turns out the number one thing to stop relying on is your own willpower - that's basically⁴ the worst approach to keeping a resolution, and is the reason why so many of us never start exercising more, continue eating all that fried⁵ chicken, and still can't speak a word of French.

 

What should you be doing instead? As Wiseman explained on his blog back in 2013, your goals should be small and manageable, you should document your success, tell others about your intentions, and, importantly, not beat yourself up for failing. Here's the complete list of Wiseman's advice:

 

1) If possible, make only one resolution - changing a lot of things at once is more difficult.

2) Think about your resolutions in advance, and spend some time to reflect on them.

3) Don't re-visit past failures, but focus on new resolutions instead.

4) Focus on what you really want - don't just go with what's trendy.

5) Break your goal into manageable, concrete steps with specific deadlines.

6) Go public - tell your friends, family, social networks about your goals, which will increase your fear of failure and also garner⁶ support.

7) Create a checklist focusing on how much better your life will be once you've achieved your goals.

8) Whenever you make progress on the steps towards your goal, give yourself a small reward.

9) Document your journey - charts, spreadsheets, journals⁷ and other means of tracking your progress will keep it concrete.

10) Don't beat yourself up and quit if you sometimes revert⁸ to old habits - treat it as a temporary setback⁹.

Good luck in 2016!

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