Every New Year is a chance for a new you and many people take advantage of that by making a resolution for change in the New Year. Common resolutions are to lose weight, get in shape, quit a bad habit or save money/control their debt.

The first step on the road to becoming a new you is to make a plan. You can’t just say “this year I’m going to save x amount of money” and then expect that to magically happen. You need to decide that you’ll only go grocery shopping every other week or only have dinner out once a week. Setting realistic goals is the key to achieving them.

The real trick to keeping your resolution is to not give up at the first misstep. Only about 8% of people who make a New Year’s Resolution keep them, and those who don’t usually give up within a week. Making a small mistake isn’t the same as failure, so whether you accidentally eat a greasy slice of pizza at a party or splurge on a designer pair of shoes, remember that tomorrow is another chance to keep your resolution.