New Year's resolutions are usually centred around a big aspirational goal: I'll work out every day, I'll write a book, I'll never eat junk food. But most of us fail at our resolutions. One problem is that we're setting our goals too high. If you want to reach a huge goal, first you have to set a small one.

Staying motivated enough to work toward our goals can be tough. The minutia of life can get in the way of our lofty dreams - which is where the non-zero method comes in. The idea is simple: Do just one thing every day that help you move toward what you want to achieve. Even if that's just performing one sit up or drinking a glass of water, at least you'll have made some progress.

Goals are easy to set but hard to reach, and maintaining your motivation is everything (which is why focusing on a system is so much better than focusing on the goal itself). A recent study published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology sheds some light on what motivates us best.

If you have big plans for the year, you want to turn them into actionable tasks to ensure they actually get done. One way to do this? Focus on one resolution a month.

The last time you had a major project to tackle, you set a deadline for yourself -- and then came very close to blowing right through it. The result: You hastily finished (or pulled an all-nighter), and then swore you'd never repeat that experience.

Getting healthy and fit is the most common new year's resolution for most people. If you want to achieve that goal -- or any goal in the new year, psychologists recommend these three strategies.

We're seeing a lot of athletes reaching lofty goals this week, but you can be sure they have experienced setbacks along the way, just like we all do. To stay on track, it helps to focus more on your plan than on your goal.

Productivity isn't just about getting things done. At its core, it's about being resourceful with your time. In a recent interview with author Charles Duhigg, he told us, "You can spend your entire day being busy and not get anything important done. Productivity is about getting important things done." In his new book, Smarter Faster Better, Duhigg explores this fuller meaning of productivity and how to achieve it.