Five Rules From Psychology to Help Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions

Want to eat better this year? Don't tell yourself to not eat chocolate. Instead, stock up on healthy things you want to eat. Then set up a healthy habit to reach for some dried mangoes when you get a craving for Duncan Hines. Dean Drobot/Shutterstock

We are creatures of habit. Between a third and half of our behavior is habitual, according to research estimates. Unfortunately, our bad habits compromise our health, wealth, and happiness.

On average, it takes 66 days to form a habit. But positive behavioral change is harder than self-help books would have us believe. Only 40 percent of people can sustain their new year’s resolution after six months, while only 20 percent of dieters maintain long-term weight loss.