Why Your New Year's Resolutions Won't Work Unless You Stop Doing These 4 Things Most of us struggle to both make and keep new year's resolutions that work. If you want this year to look different, here's what NOT to do.

The prologue of my upcoming book takes place on New Year's Eve. I rang in 2012 as a single gal who was unhappy with her weight and relationship status. In the final moments of 2011, I vowed to lose 15 pounds in the upcoming year and find my dream guy. That year, neither happened.

This isn't uncommon. Turns out, research shows a majority of people fail to keep their new year's resolutions. As an executive coach and mindset coach, I've studied this phenomenon — my upcoming book, The 6 H.A.B.I.T.S. of Powerful People, focuses on why that's the case and what we can do about it. If you've failed to keep your resolutions in the past but want that to change, here are four things you should avoid doing.

1. Don't wait for an arbitrary date