Want your resolutions to become reality? Try these tips.

Every year, millions of people make New Year’s resolutions. And every year, millions of people abandon those resolutions in a small period of time.

Whether it’s the hectic pace of life or the general difficulty of making a lifestyle change, resolutions have a history of falling by the wayside.

In fact, research indicates that roughly 30 percent of people who make New Year’s resolutions have already abandoned them just a month into the new year. While it’s common for resolutions to be abandoned, there are tricks to making resolutions a reality.

• Don’t be too vague.

One of the more common New Year’s resolutions is to lose weight. While the idea of losing weight is a great idea for those who are overweight or obese, simply saying “I’m going to lose weight” is not a good resolution. That’s because it’s too vague.

After all, if you go 12 months and lose 1 pound, theoretically your resolution might have become a reality, but was the spirit of the resolution truly met? Of course not.

To make a resolution stick, be specific. If your goal is to lose weight, weigh yourself on New Year’s Day and set a realistic goal for weight loss (consult with a medical professional if need be). By doing so, you can establish measurable goals along the way, such as losing “X” amount of pounds by a certain date. Such measuring sticks will help to keep you motivated as you continue to meet your goals.

• Be realistic and responsible with your resolution.

Too often, resolutions are made that aren’t necessarily realistic or responsible, which calls into question how valuable a given resolution truly is. For example, someone who is buried in debt might resolve to get a new 50-inch television plasma screen television before the year is out. While it can be nice to have such a television, that’s not really a responsible resolution. Instead of making the television your resolution, make getting out of debt your resolution. Should you accomplish that goal, you can then choose to reward yourself with the television that way.

• Make your resolution something you’ll enjoy. When a young person enters college, he’s often told to find something he loves to do and do that for a living. The same approach can be taken with a New Year’s resolution. For those who love to write, resolve to get a piece of writing published before the end of the year. For those who want to lose weight but aren’t fond of going to gyms, look into an athletic activity you might once have enjoyed, such as riding a bike, playing basketball or jogging, and center your weight loss program around such activities. The more you like doing the things related to your resolution, the more likely it will be that that resolution will become a reality.

• Don’t allow setbacks to settle things. A big mistake many people make with respect to their New Year’s resolutions is allowing minor setbacks to become major ones.

Resolutions aren’t easy. If they were, you wouldn’t have to resolve to doing them in the first place. What makes resolutions harder is allowing certain setbacks, such as not meeting a short-term weight loss goal, derail your efforts.

Every worthwhile resolution will involve some hurdles, some that will be easy to clear and others that might take a try or two, or even more. Don’t get discouraged to the point of abandonment at the first hurdle you can’t clear. If you do, you’ll likely find yourself making the same resolution next year.