Whether it is to quit smoking, lose weight or get active, lots of us will think about setting a New Year's resolution, yet not many will stick to it.

Just one in 10 of us will achieve our goal, according to Professor Richard Wiseman from the University of Hertfordshire.

His research team tracked 5,000 people as they attempted to achieve their New Year's resolutions and found that those who failed tended not to have a plan, which made their wish soon feel like a mountain to climb.

"Many of these ideas are frequently recommended by self-help experts but our results suggest that they simply don't work," said Prof Wiseman.

"If you are trying to lose weight, it's not enough to stick a picture of a model on your fridge or fantasise about being slimmer."

He said the 10% of participants in the study who had achieved their target broke them down into smaller goals and felt a sense of achievement when they achieved these.

The NHS is supporting Prof Wiseman to help people achieve their goals.

Top 10 goal-setting secrets:

  1. Make only one resolution. Your chances of success are greater when you channel energy into changing just one aspect of your behaviour
  2. Don’t wait until New Year’s Eve to think about your resolution and instead take some time out a few days before and reflect upon what you really want to achieve
  3. Avoid previous resolutions. Deciding to revisit a past resolution sets you up for frustration and disappointment
  5. Break your goal into a series of steps, focusing on creating sub-goals that are concrete, measurable and time-based
  6. Tell your friends and family about your goals. You're more likely to get support and want to avoid failure
  8. Give yourself a small reward whenever you achieve a sub-goal, thus maintaining motivation and a sense of progress
  9. Make your plans and progress concrete by keeping a handwritten journal, completing a computer spreadsheet or covering a notice board with graphs or pictures
  10. Expect to revert to your old habits from time to time. Treat any failure as a temporary setback rather than a reason to give up altogether