March is mad for many reasons. In addition to college basketball and extreme weather variations, this is the time when many of us suddenly realize there are only a few weeks left in the semester. If you’re anything like the general population, chances are slim that you’ve kept your New Years resolutions. What happened to studying every day, to exercising a few times a week, and to balancing school and fun? Don’t despair. With guidance the past 20 years of research in social psychology, you can set more effective goals for yourself and have a better chance of being that person you wanted to be in January.

Choosing your goals

Choose wisely. Think about why you chose the goals you did in January. A long tradition of research in self-determination theory by Ed Deci and Richard Ryan, Ken Sheldon, and Richard Koestner shows that we are more likely to succeed if we are motivated to engage in these activities because we personally want to. If you only want to reach your goal to impress your parents or to make a lot of money, you should  reconsider and find reasons to pursue it for yourself.

You should also ask yourself if your goals would help you fulfill your three basic psychological needs: feeling competent, feeling connected to others, and feeling autonomous.

Approaching your goals

Think about how you frame your goal. Are you trying to do something, or not to do something? Research suggest you are more likely to succeed at the former.

Next, think about how you will go about achieving your goals. One of the main mistakes people make is to set vague goals with unclear plans for achieving them. Say you want to do well in school. What does “doing well” mean to you—getting a 4.0, or just the feeling that you gave your best effort? Setting a specific distant goal for yourself and deciding on a few short-term, proximal goals as stepping stones can help you get to that distant goal.

What happens when things inevitably go wrong? Peter Gollwitzer’s research at NYU suggests that if we formulate an “implementation intention,” our chances of reaching our goals increase almost exponentially. Using an implementation intention, you can predict certain obstacles that may occlude your path to goal achievement and plan accordingly­—for example, “If I get too tired to continue studying, then I will drink copious amounts of coffee.” Simple statements are actually shown to make corrective behaviou0r or thoughts almost automatic.

Don’t think about your goals as an all-or-nothing pursuit. Research on dieters at the University of Toronto shows that if you cheat slightly on your diet or miss a night of studying, you have not necessarily failed at your goal. Instead, this can be a learning opportunity.

You can do it!

Know that you can achieve your goals. An extensive line of research demonstrates that this confidence  leads us to exert more effort, focus our attention more, and be optimistic in the face of obstacles. You can do this by recalling previous experiences when you mastered a similar goal, thinking about role models, and making sure you have achievable short-term goals to boost your feelings of efficacy.

Goal-setting is a great way to examine your priorities and focus on what matters to you. Remember that you’re not in this alone, so seek support from friends and family to get you through. However, you must be internally motivated. In the immortal words of Yoda, “Do or do not, there is no try.”