Do you feel like your New Year's resolutions are set up to fail each year? You're not alone. Some polls have found that anywhere from 60 to 92 percent of New Year's resolutions are never achieved. And it's not hard to see why. Aiming to change our lives as soon as we wake up on the first day of a new year sets us up for defeat. Promising yourself that you'll start to lose those 15 pounds beginning Jan. 1, when you haven't been preparing for this big change, makes it easy to fail. No life change happens suddenly. And since most of your momentum and motivation occurs in the first few days of working toward your goals (when you're not really seeing results yet), it's easy to become discouraged and quit. This year, try to set resolutions in a more effective way. Here are some great ways to achieve your goals, and feel good while you're doing it. 1. Set daily or weekly fitness goals. Ever heard of the squat challenge? There are different variations, but basically you set a goal for a number of squats to do each day for up to a month. You can do them at the gym, in front of the TV, in the bathroom while brushing your teeth—wherever. But don't limit yourself to squats. Set up daily or weekly challenges for yourself to do 60 squats one day, 80 crunches the next day, then 100 lunges another day. You'll get a huge feeling of accomplishment (and maybe some sore muscles) when you reach those short-term goals. And when you're finished, you can set more challenges, with the bar set even higher. You'll be helping yourself achieve those longer-term weight-loss goals without even thinking about it. 2. Give yourself time for progress. Many of us got fitness bands for Christmas and are ready to launch into walking or running 10,000 steps a day. Rather than starting at the top, consider starting where you are. If on Jan. 1 you would naturally take 6,000 steps, set your goal just above that—at 7,000 steps a day for the first week—then increase it by 1,000 a week. Again, you'll begin to find yourself achieving weight loss, but you'll be achieving so many short-term goals that you won't be relying on lost pounds alone to motivate yourself. 3. Break bad habits gradually. Trying to cut back on sugar in 2015? Reduce that double-double by a half-teaspoon a week rather than switching to black coffee first thing Jan. 1. Making the change slowly will give your taste buds time to adjust. Not a coffee drinker? Begin slowly watering down your fruit juice until water alone is an acceptable replacement. Or slowly cut back the sugar in your favourite baking recipes, so you don't even notice the sweetness declining. 4. Set reminders for yourself. Resolutions should be lifestyle changes, not quick fixes. That means you'll need encouragement in the short and long term. Set reminders on your phone throughout the weeks and year to remind yourself what you want to be doing, what you want to achieve and even where you were when you started. This might just give you the boost you need to keep going. A New Year's resolution should set you up for exciting challenges throughout the year—not set one impossible goal in front of you from the start. Making these small, graduated goals will motivate you to keep going and set you up for success in 2015! (Photography: FlickrCC/Alan Cleaver)