Think about the last few times you tried to change something in your behavior–i.e. lose weight, stop smoking, study more, keep a cleaner house. . . Unless there was a very powerful motivator, you probably returned to your old behaviors in less than a month. The key to permanent behavior change is to make it sufficiently uncomfortable to stay the same
 
Creating Your Behavior Modification Plan

All behaviors you are trying to change need to be rewarded. Decide whether you are going to treat yourself to a reward after you have gone a period of time (1 day or a week) or accomplished a small goal (lost a dress size or reduced the number of cigarettes by 5 per day) or after you have reduced the frequency (I only lost my temper 3 times last week or I only smoked one cigarette every three hours).
Make the reward rewarding, but also try to emphasize the natural consequences. For eating healthy and/or losing weight, maybe new clothes or a fun outing. For reducing cigarettes or shopping maybe you can reinvest the money you would have spent on the old behavior on something new.
As you become better at using/doing the new behaviors, you need to increase the criteria for the reward (i.e. do it more often, for better or for longer to earn the reward) Then, one you have mastered the behavior, start reducing the frequency of the artificial rewards. Instead of providing a reward each day, provide only one per week. Once you are successful at that, then only one reward every two weeks and so on until the behavior is relatively self-sustaining. Remember, it takes at least 28 days to change a habit, but for some it can take as much as half the time you have been doing the behavior to change it. (for instance if you have been drinking excessively for 5 years, it may take gradual improvement over 2 ½ years to really change the behavior for good.)

People often try to remove bad behaviors, but fail to replace them with similarly effective positive behaviors. People who try to quit smoking either cold-turkey or by sucking on hard candy often end up gaining 30 pounds and being miserable. The oral part of smoking is only part of the problem. Most people smoke to relax, so, unless you find another effective way to relax, you are going to have difficulty at success. Nicotine is a drug and, you may feel withdrawals that sugar or other activities are not going to fix. If you feel those cravings, talk with a physician to help you get over the physiological part. You can then more effectively deal with the stress-relief and habit parts of it.

Setting goals that are too big
We want immediate gratification. Most of the big selling products are geared at helping us achieve big goals faster. That being said, most people are not motivated by goals that you cannot reach for two or three weeks or, worse yet, months. “I want to reduce my cholesterol by 30 points” is not a realistic short-term goal. “I will do one thing each day to reduce my cholesterol” is much more reasonable. This is especially important at the beginning of a behavior change. Set real goals that are rewarded every day or at least every week. For example: “If I go to the gym for at least 1 hour, I can __________ tonight.” Focusing on weight loss can be too slow to be rewarding, instead focus on burning at least 500 calories at the gym each day. The end result is the same, but the rewards are much more frequent when you focus on the daily calories and you will stay more motivated.

Setting goals that are too hard
Most people are not going to go from being couch potatoes to exercising nearly every day. That is unrealistic. Set a small, achievable goal. Once you achieve that regularly, then up the ante. To get the reward, you have to do more. For example, “I will walk for 45 minutes a day 3 days a week” can be fine tuned to “I will walk 45 minutes a day at a 14 minute mile pace, 3 days a week.”

Setting too many goals
Focus! Rome was not built in a day. Change one or two things a little bit. Cut back by 5 cigarettes per day and start walking for 20 minutes 3 days a week.

Setting goals without sufficient rewardsJust feeling better is often not enough of a reason to keep people motivated to exercise, eat more healthfully or stop smoking. We want rewards that are as great as the effort we put out. If you are competitive, set goals with a buddy and compare notes. Let your friends know what you are doing. A public commitment to a goal makes it easier to keep, and people who know what you are doing will often give you those much needed kudos. If you are a private person, buy something or do something special as a reward.

Setting goals that are too vague
“I am going to exercise more” “I will eat better.” “I will have a more positive attitude.” None of these is specific enough to create any substantial or consistent behavior change. You want to be able to answer the question “How will I know when/if I have accomplished my goal?” Goals ideally need to have a frequency, intensity or duration (Preferably all three). Frequency is how often you will do the new behavior or will not do the old behavior. “I will eat at least 1 fruit each day” or “I will not drink more than 1 cup of caffeine per day.” Intensity is how strong you do the behavior “I will eat at least the minimum number of servings from each food group.” “I will not get more than 30% of my calories from fat.” Duration is how long you will do the behavior “I will walk for 45 minutes each day.” “I will not sit for more than 1 hour at a time.”

Setting the wrong goals
If you want to “feel better” look at why you feel bad in the first place. Are you sleep deprived, eating poorly, not exercising, depressed, physically ill or in chronic pain? Choose your goals accordingly. If you want to “improve your relationship” getting more physically fit might not be the answer, despite what many people think. Get with your partner to figure out what the problems are. Then set your goals, keeping in mind that the only person you can change is you.

In summary:

Anything you do to help yourself feel happier or healthier will lead to other positive changes.

• Start with something small that you will do.
• Do not eliminate any behavior until you have found a reasonable replacement
• Ask yourself what the benefit is to your current behavior pattern. Make sure your resolution provides the same benefits in a healthier way.
• Ask yourself what you hope to accomplish with this resolution. Make sure your resolution actually accomplishes that.
• Ask yourself why you are not already doing it—what is holding you back. Address those issues first.
• Ask yourself if you are willing to do what is necessary to change. Change is hard work. Really figure out if you are willing to work or are happier staying the same and just complaining and getting pity attention.
• Make sure your rewards are rewarding and frequent

If you find it hard to make successful resolutions, find a professional who specializes in behavior modification. Usually one to three sessions is all it takes to help you be successful.