Your subconscious mind doesn't know the difference between what is real and imagined. And if you believe something to be real with every fiber of your being, your subconscious will do everything in its power to prove you right -- by making your dream a reality.

The reason why it's so hard to stick to new habits is that we often try to achieve a performance or appearance-based goal without changing our identity. Most of the time, we try to achieve results before proving to ourselves that we have the identity of the type of person we want to become.

I recently had the great pleasure of sitting down with my dear friend Tara Stiles to talk about our New Year's resolutions, our new projects and our positive outlook for the year to come.

If you want things to change, you have to decide to make things change. Just as we need to establish what our goals are, we also need to make a commitment to those goals.

The strategy that has helped hundreds of my patients over the years is one that replaces self-doubt, fear, and anxiety about making changes with a sense of certainty, control, and fearlessness. Here are my surefire steps to successfully sticking to your fitness goals for 2013.

Intentions set a direction toward a new vision, opening the vista to see where one wants to go, making it easier to go toward the intention. There is less resistance with intentions than with resolutions.

As we prepare to turn the page on 2012 and ring in 2013, it's highly likely that most of us will be making resolutions regarding weight loss that go something like, "I want to lose 30 pounds in three months." Over the past 20 years, I have come to realize that having a goal by itself does not lead to success.

January is not the problem. It's us. Well, our perfectionism, to be specific. Our all-or-none thinking frames our life so that if we're not succeeding every second, we're failing. Nobody wants that. But nobody can be that "perfect" person either.

Each goal is measurable, stated in present tense and set within a time frame. We've visualized it, written it down, and maybe even posted it on our bathroom mirror. We've told our supportive friends about it and even come up with an action plan. So why is it so hard to get into action?

Even though we might not be able to use positive visualization to help us achieve our goals, it can help us stay clearheaded -- which might be a better mindset for pursuing goals.

We tend to think mistakes get in the way of progress or, worse, mean failure. With small tasks, that's likely. But when it comes to thinking big and achieving something over time, error is an important part of the process.

If you made a New Year's resolution that has slipped or is slipping away from you, take a moment to reassess. Ask yourself if making the change you thought you resolved to make still appeals to you.