Legend has it the month of January was named for the Roman god Janus: he had two faces, one looking to the future and the other looking to the past.

And so, we see the end of the year as a time of reflection; the beginning of the next an opportunity to turn over a new leaf.

But most of us are doing it wrong.

The New Years Resolution has long been seen as a chance to set goals and change our behaviour.

Last year, 45% of Americans said they usually make a resolution.

And theyre mostly about losing weight, doing regular exercise or saving money.

But only 8% of those people actually achieved their resolution.

Ive never been part of that 8%.

Nope.

American psychologist Amy Cuddy writes that New Years Resolutions are “riddled with psychological traps that work against us.

” Heres why.

First of all, most resolutions are too ambitious.

Say you resolve to “go to the gym three times a week.

” It sounds okay, I mean I could easily watch Netflix three times a week, so why not make that gym time?

But its totally different and more of a commitment than you may realise, especially if its a new behaviour.

We often fall victim to the planning fallacy, where we underestimate the time it takes to complete a task.

Sooner or later, but probably sooner, youll miss a gym visit and then youve failed.

Repeated failure makes us lose confidence and it becomes more likely that well stop.

Typical New Years Resolutions are too results orientated.

They focus on a lofty ambition like “Quit smoking ”, without considering the process, the steps we need to take to get there.

s difficult to imagine and relate to.

Sometimes its hard to imagine what life will be like in one years time.

Well have finished a whole new season of Game of Thrones by then.

And often, resolutions are too negatively focused.

We want to get rid of things bad habits or weight, rather than build upon things that were good at.

This is why New Years Resolutions can be bad for us.

Setting goals like this can lead to learned helplessness - where we give up what were capable of doing after we repeatedly fail.

So should we still make New Years Resolutions?

Sure, just do it smartly.

Back in the 1920s, Bluma Zeigarnik found that people have a better memory for tasks they havent yet completed; its now called the Zeigarnik effect.

So make your resolution a series of short-term tasks - with a positive focus - that you can keep tweaking towards your larger goal.

Start a to-do list, figure out your approach, and its much more likely youll feel a niggling urge to complete the little things.

And once you do, Richard Wiseman writes that planning a reward gives you a sense of achievement and keeps you on track.

This way you can look back and feel accomplished about everything youve done and you can look forward towards your goal; all until next January rolls around.