How to stick to New Year's resolutions

I will eat my five a day. Potatoes are a vegetable, right?

It's that time again. Your moment to transform into a perfect being, with the help of a few carefully chosen New Year's resolutions.

But let's face it, we've all been there, and not actually done that.

So we've spoken to life coach Lynda Field about how to actually keep your resolutions.

Apparently, the most important thing is your attitude. If you think you're going to fail, you are more likely to give in.

1) Be specific

If you have decided that 2017 is the year that you're going to get thin/ rich/ successful/ happy, then Lynda's got some bad news for you. She thinks you will fail because you're being too vague.

You can't pin these resolutions down," she advises.

"It needs to be measurable, and you need to be specific, so you know what steps to take. Then you can drill it down into an action plan with one small step leading to the next."

I will never, ever, ever do this again. Starting from tomorrow

2)Don't beat yourself up

If this is the year you're going to stop being so fat or ugly or all-round unlovable, then you're going about it the wrong way.

According to Lynda, if you make a resolution that's filled with self-hate, you are bound to fail.

"We only carry things through if we're supporting ourselves in a kindly way. If we're being critical of ourselves, on a unconscious level we won't believe we can keep it, and we won't keep it.

"We will rebel and we will prove to ourselves what we know to be true - that we're stupid."

I will go running every day. Maybe I'll start in the summer

3) Turn a negative into a positive.

There's no point coming up with promises like: "I'm going to stop going for the wrong sort of guy or girl." Lynda says it's better to flip that round.

"If you go for bad boys, then I'd say you need to look at people who are not like that. So, decide to pick up on people who are kind and generous instead," she says.

4) Give yourself time - but not too much

Lynda reckons that it's important to set yourself a time frame "so it doesn't extend into eternity, but it doesn't have to all happen in two days either."

So, let's say you want to lose 20kg in total. Lynda says the best way is to aim to lost two kg in January.

She says "Once you've achieved success in that short-term goal, it encourages you to go for something big."

You are invited to my dream wedding. Groom TBC

5) Stay motivated

This is where so many of us fall down. It's easy enough to be determined in January, but by the time summer is here, your willpower may well have faded.

Lynda says the trick to this to set yourself bite-sized chunks, so your resolution seems less daunting.

She compares it to being at the bottom of a steep set of stairs.

"You don't want to look at the whole staircase and think: 'I can't do it.' Instead, look at each small step. Take the first small step, and then the next small step, and carry on."

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