Get ready for change: will this be the year you finally succeed at losing weight, quitting smoking, exercising more or drinking less? To find out, take our quiz

1 Once you've started on your self-improvement plan, how will you know whether it's working?

a. You'll feel heaps of guilt if you're not doing what you should be doing.

b. You'll start feeling virtuous and peppier if you are.

c. You'll be able to consult your self-monitoring journal.

Instant insight "Developing an accountability system--in which you track whether you followed the plan each day in a journal or on a computer--helps you know where you are at any given moment and saves you from self-deception," says psychologist Jim Loehr, Ed.D., CEO of LGE Performance Systems in Orlando, Fla., and co-author of The Power of Full Engagement (The Free Press, 2003). Indeed, study after study has found that keeping a food diary is one of the strongest predictors of weight-loss success. Because it's hard to deny what you've put in print, a written record helps keep you honest about your habits and allows you to measure your progress.

2 In establishing your goal, you have set your sights primarily on:

a. what you ultimately want your new habits to be.

b. what's possible for you to do today and tomorrow.

c. where you are now, where you want to be and specifically how you'll get from point A to point B.

Instant insight "Whenever you want to go somewhere, you need two navigational coordinates--where you want to go and where you are now," Loehr says. "One without the other means you're still lost." So face the truth about where you are right now relative to this change by doing a numbers inventory: How many cocktails or cigarettes do you have per day? How often do you eat junk food in response to stress? Once you've pinpointed your starting point, set specific, measurable steps for how you'll proceed toward your new goal.

3 If you've tried to tackle this resolution before and failed, what will make this time different?

a. Now you are more motivated to do it.

b. You've examined what went wrong, and this time you'll do it differently.

c. You feel like you have the will and the way to achieve your goal.

Instant insight Motivation and willpower are overrated, says John C. Norcross, Ph.D., co-author of Changing for Good (Perennial/Quill, 1995) and a professor of psychology at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania who for 25 years has researched how people change. Here's what's more important: having a clarity of purpose, a set of specific behavioral skills that will help you stick with your plan and the confidence to execute those skills. "Self-efficacy--a realistic sense of self-confidence that you can do this--is the single best predictor of whether you are going to succeed," Norcross says. So if you want to slim down, reading up on what you need to do to change your diet, mapping out a strategy for how you'll do it and believing that you have the strength of character and the commitment to make it happen can give you the right can-do spirit.

4 Let's say you want to peel off some extra pounds. What thought is most likely to run through your mind?

a. Since both of your parents are heavy people, you must be dealing with an inherited slow metabolism.

b. You're often too tired to exercise or cook healthful meals.

c. If you step up your exercise and improve your eating habits, you'll probably have a lot more energy to devote to activities that are important to you.

Instant insight We all tell ourselves stories that explain--or make excuses for--how we've come to be the way we are, Loehr says. The trick is to create a new narrative, one that reflects your values, the truth about what you're doing now and why, and how you can effect the change you're aiming for. If you want to start exercising regularly, you might tell yourself that working out consistently gives you greater focus and stamina to keep up with your kids or your busy social life. "Write down your new story of how you want to be, review it once a day, and tell it to other people when you have the chance," Loehr says. "That story will become your reality and your destiny."

5 You received bad news, and you're an emotional wreck. You really want a cookie, a cocktail or a smoke. What will you do?

a. Indulge your craving just this once since you're dealing with a crisis.

b. Ask one of your friends how she soothes herself when she's upset.

c. Use the relaxation skills you've been practicing to calm yourself.

Instant insight "Negative emotions--such as sadness, fear, anxiety or loss--and tempting social situations account for the vast majority of lapses," Norcross notes. "You need to develop specific plans for how you'll deal with these and practice them ahead of time."

This way, if you know that you can distract and de-tense yourself by going for a walk, calling a close friend or meditating, your goal won't be threatened every time you face a surprise.

6 To determine your commitment to your goal, you have:

a. questioned whether you really want to work on this change.