How to stick to your New Year's resolutions

London: Always make a New Year resolution but fail to comply with it? Don’t worry, for a leading psychologist has devised a formula, which will help boost your chances of succeeding in the pledges.

Professor Richard Wiseman, of the University of Hertfordshire said that with his technique, the chances of fulfilment of New Year’s resolutions are very high, but men and women would have to follow different rules to stick by their decisions to change their lives, according to a report in The Telegraph.

Wiseman tracked the resolutions of more than 3,000 people as they attempted to stick to their oaths on January 1.

The psychologist found that only 12 per cent were successful, with three-quarters of those who vowed to put an end to their smoking habit, sparked up the cigarette again at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve.

Out of the people who pledged to lose weight, only 28 per cent succeeded in avoiding the temptation of food.

Astonishingly, these resolutions were easier to achieve than obtaining a new qualification or "being a better person".

According to Wiseman, the oath with the most chance of success was to "enjoy life more", probably because it is so vague and subjective.

He developed an advice on how to do better because the participants were asked to try one of four different methods.

Wiseman analysed the data to find out what more could be done to improve the low success rate of the resolutions.

The analysis found that men were significantly more likely to succeed when they had been asked to set a goal for themselves.

For example, instead of trying to lose weight, say by shedding a pound each week, they were told to focus on a measure of success, such as becoming more attractive to women.

Also, it was found that women were more successful when they told their friends and family about their resolution, or were encouraged to be especially resilient and not to give up because they had reverted to the old habits.

For example, if dieting, treating a chocolate binge as a temporary setback rather than as failure.

"Men may be more likely to adopt a macho attitude and have unrealistic expectations, and so simple goal setting helps them achieve more", the paper quoted Wiseman, as saying.

"Likewise, women might be reluctant to tell others about their resolutions, and so benefit more from the social support provided by friends and family once they have made their goals public,” he added.