Last year was a good year for Fred Sullivan. The commercial real estate executive hit all his resolutions for 2006. He lost some weight, got promoted and made more money.

Sullivan, in fact, succeeded in hitting the most popular New Year’s resolution goals that most people set this year, according to a poll conducted by Life Magazine and AOL Coaches. More than half the people who responded said they made a resolution at the beginning of 2006. And nearly 81 percent of the respondents said they planned to make new resolutions for 2007. Their No. 1 goal, like Sullivan's, is to lose weight. "It's been a pretty good year," the Ridgewood, N.J., resident says. “I just want it to continue. I like to look at it as goals rather than resolutions. A lot of people set resolutions and then forget them."

Not Kathryn Leary. The Hoboken, N.J., marketing entrepreneur and blogger said she plans to avoid eating after 8 p.m. to help manage her weight, to work out with hand weights and add speed-walking to her yoga regimen. Like Leary, many resolution-makers in the poll are a determined lot. Twenty-four percent of them said they will keep their resolutions. Their other top goals, according to the poll, are to become more fearless, have more romantic rendezvous and clear out household clutter.

AOL Kids & Family Coach Rita Emmett, author of several books, including “The Procrastinator’s Handbook,” says we often make plans during the flush of the holiday season. Once we are back to our usual routines, they are easy to forget or put off until we have more time. Without a written action plan, she says, most people will risk sabotaging even their best efforts at change.

A former procrastinator herself, Emmett says, for example, "I write a big reminder that I want to improve relationships but if I don't write down the how, six months later I might say I still didn't do it. I need to write down how. Am I going to get into therapy, pull out of a bad relationship? For losing weight you need to say: 'I'm going to start walking. I'm going to join a gym. I am going to make three changes.' Three small steps can really change into a healthy life style." Continued ...