Remember all those resolutions you made? Well, time to find that sheet of paper that you wrote all your new goals on and revisit them before they become as obsolete as the pet rock.

It’s about this time every year in which health clubs start to see that initial surge of well-intentioned exercisers begin to decline and hand the clubs back over to the “regulars,” who at some point already changed their mindset in relation to exercise.

Why does this scene play out year after year and what can you do to change that? First, the good news is that every person with a desire to change has the ability to make their lifestyle changes stick. No matter what your age, gender, or education level everyone can develop habits that can become life-altering. To answer the question at the beginning of the paragraph people don’t stick to those “resolutions” due to mindset, and in order for lifelong change to occur we need to do some serious tinkering with our mindsets.

In order for us to understand what needs to be changed, we first need take inventory followed by setting appropriate goals. This enables us to make a plan and to develop a strategy focused on getting results. Keep in mind different strategies may be employed in order to accomplish our intended outcomes; there’s no cookie-cutter approach to your health and fitness. For example, if we want to lose 30 pounds, the plan will be vastly different from someone who’s looking to improve their golf game.

With this in mind, let’s now turn to goal-setting. Remember that goal-setting goes beyond making money and getting healthier; we can improve our mental and emotional well-being, our spiritual selves, relationships or anything else we feel needs improvement.

In the meantime, if we keep in mind that effective goal-setting can be accomplished using the acronym “SMART,” then you will have a good starting point in changing your life. SMART stands for S (specific), M (measurable), A (attainable), R (realistic) and T (time-based).

For example, if you want to lose 10 pounds, you’d weigh yourself (write down the date), set your 10-pound goal (which is realistic if the period of time is appropriate), and set a date when you should be at that goal (10 weeks is safe). From there you’d set your nutritional goal, strength goal and cardiovascular goal. Now you have developed a plan that will get us to the end result. Keeping the weight off is another set of goals with a plan to execute.

Two things should always be done when we goal-set. First, we need to understand that our desire for change will oscillate with time. This is why it’s critical to write down our goals in a place we can see them daily. Second, delegate someone who knows you well to hold you accountable to those goals and don’t let you off the hook.

Now we must turn to planning a strategy for effective execution. Just as every coach has a goal to win a particular game, he or she would never just play the game and hope for the best. All coaches game-plan and the effective game plans get the greatest results.

The same goes for exercise. Depending on what result you want, an effective plan will get the success you deserve and then you’ll develop new and exciting goals that you never originally thought were obtainable. In order to correctly know what exercise program is a good fit, seeking out an exercise physiologist, physical therapist or an accredited personal trainer may help you avoid injuries as well as wasting time with a plan that isn’t designed for you.

For example, someone with a history of shoulder problems should avoid certain movements and should incorporate others; without professional guidance, you may inflict further damage that will set you back both mentally and physically.

Why do we need to deal with mind-set? The reason why we need to change our mindset is because our current mindset is what got us into the trouble in the first place. Think back to how you felt in late December or earlier this month when you were plotting on what needed to be changed. That feeling of hope and enthusiasm was very motivating and made us feel different. Do you still feel that way?

That original feeling was a shift in mindset, or physiology. The key to long-term change is to keep that mindset honest. Once we become comfortable in our minds, true change will never occur. This is why that less then five percent of the people who set resolutions are successful at the end of the year. They initially have lots of momentum and a desire for change but since they confuse willpower with mindset, their goals are never accomplished.

Change is always possible no matter our age, gender, socio-economic status or the circumstances in our lives. The great thing about change is that it can be sculpted to how we want our lives to become. It takes an honest analysis of where we currently are, what we need to change, a sound strategy or plan that is concurrent with our goals and a life-long commitment to developing the proper mindset.

Matthew Gagliano is owner of Fitness Together in Barrington.