New year, new you and new ways of meeting your fitness goals for 2019.

The word “resolve” comes from the Latin verb “solvere”, meaning “to loosen” or “melt”. Which seems contradictory (it’s something to do with the idea of breaking down problems until answers present themselves) until you consider the laxity of most New Year’s resolutions. Research by the University of Scranton indicates that a paltry eight per cent of resolutions are followed through; 27 per cent don’t even make it past a week.

Statistically, the dissolution of your New Year’s resolution is almost inevitable. Indeed, the study also found that successful resolution makers failed at exactly the same high rate as unsuccessful ones: 71 per cent within the first month. The difference is that they didn’t give up, but instead dusted themselves off and got back on the wagon. One key to keeping your resolution then is a little more, well, “resolve”.

That’s easier said than done, though, in cold, dark January when the urge to reach for comfort blankets – alcohol, cigarettes, carbohydrates and your duvet – overwhelms. You can, however, make the disadvantageous odds more in your favour by taking heed of the following advice. The chances of your best intentions surviving the winter just got a little better.

“Write your resolution down,” counsels Mr Luke Worthington, a Nike trainer who keeps everyone from Premier League footballers to Victoria’s Secret Angels fit. “That’ll make you more likely to be accountable, and therefore stick to it.” Indeed, putting pen to paper increases your likelihood of success by 42 per cent, according to a study by the Dominican University of California. Writing down “to be Mr Ryan Gosling” won’t make it happen though, law of attraction or no. “Psychologists will tell you that goals should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timed,” Mr Worthington continues. “A good example would be ‘add 5kg to your bench press by the end of March’; a not-so-SMART goal might be ‘get stronger’”.

If this all sounds a bit “middle management”, you’re not far wrong. “Just like a business plan, you want to reverse-engineer your targets,” recommends Mr Mark Ross, an instructor at Barry’s Bootcamp in Manchester and a personal trainer who specialises in body transformations. “So, set a target for 12 weeks, which might be to lose a stone. That sounds like a lot, but it’s very doable. Then break that down into a monthly goal of losing 5lb, and into a weekly goal of around 1lb.” This brings us back to the “M” of SMART: Measurable. “Each week, assess your progress,” continues Mr Ross. “Making small steps triggers positive reinforcements and will keep your momentum going, which then turns into huge progress long-term.” In short, the positive snowball will grow as you shrink.

Measuring, even as rudimentary as putting an “X” on your calendar every time you stick to your resolution, can become its own reward. “Habit tracking creates a visual cue that can remind you to act, is inherently motivating because you can see the progress you’re making and don’t want to lose it and feels satisfying whenever you record another successful instance of your habit,” writes Mr James Clear in his book Atomic Habits. “You are casting votes for the kind of person you want to become, which is a delightful form of immediate and intrinsic gratification.” It’s been shown to help with hitting goals from quitting smoking to lowering blood pressure and losing weight; in one study, habit trackers dropped twice as many pounds as those who didn’t.

Renowned psychologist Dr Walter Mischel’s book The Marshmallow Test is so named for his famous experiments in which preschool children were faced with a tempting treat, but told they could have two later if they waited; how long they resisted correlated to their academic performance, body-mass index and drug habits in later life. “Regardless of age, the core strategy for self-control is to cool the ‘now’ and heat the ‘later’ – push the temptation far away from you in space and time, and bring the distant consequences closer in your mind,” he writes. For example, brain-imaging scans showed that thinking of the slow-burn effect of a cigarette (lung cancer) significantly quelled smokers’ cravings. That marshmallow might taste good now, but it’ll also turn you into Mr Stay Puft.

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