It’s a fact, most New Year’s resolutions are short-lived.

A 2007 study showed that four out of five people who make a vow to improve some aspect of their lives — whether saving more money, losing those ten extra pounds or just getting organised — will eventually fail.

American-based time management firm FranklinCovey polled more than 15,000 of its clients and discovered one-third of them couldn’t even keep their resolutions until the end of January.

If you’re one of those people who find it hard to stick with such goals, here are some tips to improve your likelihood of success:

Set realistic expectations. While writing a novel or getting out of debt might sound like a great goal for the New Year, if you aim too high you might set yourself up for disappointment when you don’t reach your goal fast enough. Instead, try and make your target more attainable by pushing yourself to finish one chapter of the book a month; paying back a manageable sum each week.

Write your goal down on paper. There’s no greater motivator to lose weight, eat healthier or exercise more than seeing your resolutions stuck to the fridge before you grab that sugary snack. Jotting down your specific goals for 2014 and keeping them somewhere you see them every day, will serve as a regular reminder of what you set out to do and why that was important for you.

Reward yourself along the way. If your goal is to drop three dress sizes, then make sure you treat yourself a little each time you make a big step towards achieving that. Of course, you shouldn’t eat all the chocolate in the cupboard whenever you’ve seen the numbers on the scale go down; schedule time for a pedicure or spa day. It might give you that little push you need to keep working towards your goal.

Find an accountability partner. Chances are the more people you tell about your goal, the more likely you are to keep it. If you tell your work colleagues about your plan to cut gluten from your diet and they see you chowing down on pastas and breads all week, then hopefully someone will call you out on it. The upside is there will also be more people along for the ride to encourage you when you need a boost or don’t feel like going for a run at 6am.

Don’t give up after the first sign of trouble. You decided to quit smoking for the New Year, but then those usual stressors came along again and you caved. If ever you experience a setback with your goal, the best thing to do is cut yourself a little slack, remind yourself why you set that goal in the first place and start afresh the next day.