As January of a new year approaches, many people will soon be pontificating about possible future goals. How do they want to feel in the year ahead? What do they want to do? Where do they want to go? Who do they want to be? For these people - hopefully including you - This is an exciting time to entertain possibilities, explore novel ideas, and exclude past excuses.

Yet we've all heard - or even personally experienced - the discouraging statistics about New Year's Resolutions1-2:

There are many reasons why well-intentioned people are unsuccessful with their New Year's goals. For example, some people set goals too vague to inspire sustained progress (e.g., be happier, lose weight, get healthier). Other people mistakenly tether their goals only to short-term milestones (e.g., lose 10 pounds), with nothing to anchor their results or maintain their momentum. And still others find their plans waylaid by stress, injuries, or unexpected life events. No matter how passionate we feel about our goals in January, we each must cross a minefield of potential saboteurs to achieve them.

If this makes New Year's goal-setting sound grim, there is good news. Successful goal achievement isn't random. It relies much more on strategy than on luck or even willpower. In this blog, we'll discuss........

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