Focusing on the men today, Professor Richard Wiseman has this to say:

Focus on creating goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-based (SMART).

For example, instead of thinking "I want to find a new job" focus on creating bite-sized, measurable goals for each week, such as rewriting your CV and then applying for one new job every two weeks.

Map out the step-by-step mini-goals that will slowly but surely take you to where you want to be, make a note of them in a diary, and stick to the plan.

Of course, some people reckon that New Year's resolutions are a bit, well, last year. The excellent 43 Folders blog has these suggestions for 'fresh starts and modest changes':

• Cancel something — satellite TV, magazine subscriptions, Blackberry: "you may feel obligated to consume them all to the point where acquiring, processing, and devouring them becomes like an inefficient part-time job"
• Replace one project — something you feel obliged to do (but have no real interest in ever doing); something that stalled long ago and could easily be removed; something that takes massive amounts of fuss for consistently annoying results…
• Learn the qualified 'yes' — "The good news is that there’s actually an even healthier middle path between “Sure. Anything you say” and “No way. Never.” I call it the qualified ‘yes’."