RESOLUTIONS FAIL IF GOALS ARE VAGUE, PSYCHOLOGIST SAYS

New Year's resolutions have a way of being discarded like an old coat.

In many cases, people make vague resolutions. "All too often the goal is so vague that it doesn't define what that person will do to get to that point," says Southeast Missouri State University psychology professor Wayne Hoover.

"From a psychologist's point of view, what people should do is make a behavioral contract with themselves."

People who simply resolve to lose weight, for example, will seldom attain that goal because they haven't thought out the specific steps they must take to make such a resolution a reality.

Hoover says his New Year's resolution remains the same from year to year. He vows to eat less, exercise more and lose weight.

Hoover is rooting for those who vow to quit smoking in 1995. "I have a soft spot in my heart for people who quit smoking. I finally kicked it years ago," he said.