How To Make Your New Year's Resolutions Stick

There are probably more life decisions made in the 12 hours from about 9pm on December 31 to 9am on January 1 than any other single 12 hours in the year. This is when people traditionally make their New Year's resolutions, often on the spur of the moment when someone asks them what they're resolving to do this year.

Unfortunately, a large number of those life decisions are practically forgotten in the following 12 hours, by 9pm on January 1!

Well, it may not be quite that bad but the vast majority of New Year's resolutions are set aside or forgotten by the end of January.

If you've made a resolution to get out of debt this year, what can you do to make it stick for more than a few weeks?

There are several things you need to do to have a successful New Year's resolution…

First, you need to be realistic. If your debt has been accumulating for several years, you can't expect it to disappear overnight. What starts as a New Year's resolution in 2009 might continue as one in 2010, 2011 and beyond.

You can't let this discourage you from sticking with it though. You just need to accept this fact from the start.

Second, you need to have a plan. Waking up on January 1 and saying "I'm going to get out of debt this year" is not enough. You need to figure out how you're going to reach that goal, and how long you should reasonably expect it to take.

Third, you need to take action on that plan. This is really the key to the whole thing - without action, nothing is going to happen. In spite of what you might hear in books or movies like "The Secret" simply wanting or expecting something is not enough. You need to take action to get it.

Finally, you need to review your progress on a regular basis and make adjustments to your plan when necessary. Let's face it - unexpected things are going to come up whether you like it or not.

Your car might break down, the roof springs a leak or your stove packs it in and has to be replaced. These things can set your get-out-of-debt plan back, but you need to take them in stride and not let them completely derail your efforts.

If you want to start fresh this year and really get your debt paid off, you can do it. You just need to be sure to lay a good foundation under your resolution so it isn't going to fail as soon as the novelty wears off.