JOPLIN, Mo. — As we head into the new year, many people will set new goals for themselves.

Dr. Karl Wendt of “Mount Hope Christian Counseling” suggests setting a “smart” goal for those new years’ resolutions.

It’s an acronym for those goals to be:

• Specific,

• Measurable,

• Attainable,

• Relevant,

• Time-sensitive.

For example, the popular resolution of weight loss.

He says don’t just go to the gym and say your goal is to lose 100 pounds… Start smaller with maybe only 5 pounds over a few weeks.

“You can make it have a big goal, but break it down into smaller parts, and you can reward yourself for reaching little milestones along the way. Build in some mess-ups, so that you’ve got some margin to have an off-week, but you can still get back on track and still feel good about it,” said Dr. Karl Wendt, Mount Hope Christian Counseling Center Director.

Dr. Wendt says four percent of people who do not make a resolution will achieve the goals they’ve set for themselves.

In comparison, 46 percent of people who do make a new years’ resolution will achieve their goals.