Happy New Year: how to make New Year's resolutions you'll stick with.

Frank smiled smugly in the office of psychologist Dr. Peter Wish. Frank said he'd made a New Year's resolution. "This year I'm going to make a million dollars." When Dr. Wish, director of the New England Institute of Family Relations, asked how he was going to accomplish it, Frank shrugged. "I just will."

Sarah, on the other hand, said her New Year's resolution was the same as the previous year, the year before that, and the year before that: to lose 40 pounds by February 1.

And Matthew, with tears streaming down his face, sat in psychologist Dr. John C. Norcross's office and whispered hoarsely, "My New Year's resolution? To talk to my brother. Forty years ago when Mom died, we had a fight. A rift. We haven't talked since. On January 1 I'm going to pick up that telephone and call him."

Which of these real resolutions is likely to happen? Which are doomed to failure before they're started? And how can we make smart New Year's resolutions?

"Smart resolutions," says Dr. Norcross, longtime researcher on New Year's resolutions and self-change, and coauthor of Changing for Good, "are realistic resolutions."

New Year's began with the ancient Romans, and most cultures have New Year's traditions. Whether it's January 1, the first day of spring, or religious dates, "resolutions are made," Dr. Norcross says, "because it's a new beginning, a time to wipe the slate clean. Humans also innately want to change things and make things better." Dr. Wish adds that people make resolutions for the opportunity to do something good for themselves.

The most popular resolutions, says Dr. Norcross, are to lose weight (women more than men) and to stop smoking. In recent years managing money better has been a third topic.

More than half of us make New Year's resolutions each year; one week later four out of five are on track, three weeks later three of five, six months later two of five, and two years later only one of five is still sticking with the resolution.

"Resolutions focus on bad habits, traits that people have been inconsistent with and have had difficulty changing," Dr. Wish says. That makes resolutions come with built-in problems, making them hard to stick to.

Making them stick.

Make sure you want to make a resolution. "People feel pressured to change on New Year's Day," Dr. Norcross says. "It's a hopeful time, a time of change, a time to start over. But if people really aren't ready to make a change--if they're doing it because they're supposed to, or for someone else--the resolution is doomed to failure."

Choose only one or two resolutions. Jot down a list of 10 things you want to change and choose the easiest. "That gives you a higher chance for success. Since success breeds success, you'll then have more confidence attacking the next problem," Dr. Wish suggests.

Be reasonable. Make no more than two resolutions at a time and don't make them big. Your resolutions should be reasonable and attainable: giving 5 percent more to the church, learning to downhill ski, and treating your friends better are reasonable.

Resolutions like publishing a book in six months, finding sunken treasure, and creating world peace are not. Each of these may have a worthy resolution component--writing five novel pages daily, for instance--but the overall concept is simply too huge and unreasonable.

Even with reasonable resolutions people tend to sabotage themselves, Dr. Wish says, by being unreasonable about how long their resolutions will take.

"They get on the scale after five days and are disappointed that they didn't lose eight or 10 pounds, and give up. It's important to be reasonable about what you expect, and when, so that you can have a fairly good chance of succeeding; otherwise you're really being unkind to yourself.

Be exact. "Instead of making a generic resolution," Dr. Wish says, "like 'I'm going to lose weight,' be specific. Define what that means--more like 'I'm going to lose 25 pounds,' or 'I'm going to walk for 20 minutes four times a week until I've lost 25 pounds.'"

Break the resolution down. Break it into bite-sized chunks, small steps that are accomplishable.

If your resolution, for instance, is to get your cardiovascular system into shape so you don't puff after climbing a set of stairs, break that goal into smaller goals: walk slowly up three flights of stairs twice a week, swim 20 laps twice a week, or run at half speed for five minutes every day.

Prepare for changes. Don't burn your house down and then wonder where you're going to live. "If you're going to cut down on smoking," Dr. Norcross advises, "you have to understand that your need for oral gratification has to be satisfied. Plan ahead. Have substitutes such as hard candy on hand."

Prepare your environment. If you want to eat less fat, remove high-fat foods from your refrigerator. If you want to spend less on frivolities, avoid stores where you'll be tempted. If you want to read more, avoid rooms where the TV is on.

Go public. Enlist the aid of other people. Announce what you're going to do. Tell your family and/or friends that you'll need their help in giving "gentle" reminders.

Reward yourself. If you eat less than 20 percent fat all day, for instance, allow yourself to do something you've been wanting to do, such as watch a particular TV show or read a book. Make sure you apply the reward each time you accomplish one of the steps in your resolution.

Be prepared for a long haul. For a resolution to work, you must be prepared to do whatever it takes for a very long time, perhaps the rest of your life.

Success.

Proper preparation, common sense, and a strong dose of determination can make all the difference in the success of your resolutions. Take Mabel, for example, an 80-year-old who made a resolution to play the piano, which she had given up 63 years earlier.

She made a plan and followed through, step by step. "Every time our researchers called Mabel, she set the phone down, went to the piano, and played a piece. The same one every time. Back at the phone she'd say, 'Now, wasn't that better than the last time you heard it?'" Dr. Norcross says. Or Matthew, who called his brother and was reunited with him.

On the other hand, as expected, Frank didn't make a million dollars, and Sarah didn't lose 40 pounds.

Be smart in making resolutions by following these steps and imagine what a happy new year your success will make for you.