THIS is the time of year when New Year's resolutions start to crumble.

Though you may still want to lose weight, stop smoking and take more exercise, there’s a good chance you’ll have stopped trying by now.

And that word ‘try’ is part of the problem, says health coach Anne Marshall, author of The Health Factor.

In her new book, the former lecturer in nursing and midwifery argues that people should simply say they ‘intend’ to make a change.

“As a health coach I see many of my clients struggle to achieve their goals and the result can be unnecessary feelings of disappointment and failure.

“My best tip is simply this: stop trying. You’ll have a much greater chance of achieving your goal if you ‘intend’ to do something and seize your potential.”

Marshall’s work involves encouraging people to become guardians of their own wellness.

“Health coaching is already very popular in the States and is emerging in the UK. The new government is focusing their attention on self-care and we’re getting more interest from the NHS. It’s an emerging niche in the established profession of life coaching.”

Marshall says when a person agrees to ‘try’ to establish new behaviour, this often means they’ve subconsciously decided not to succeed.

“The word ‘try’ holds little commitment,” she explains.

In America, celebrity fitness expert Michael George claims health coaching, combined with fitness training, has helped create healthy lifestyle transformations for clients including actors Christian Slater, Reese Witherspoon and Meg Ryan.

The discipline encourages people to think about what they want to change about their health and wellbeing, and how to overcome those obstacles.

“Where this approach is beginning to take off is in the corporate sector,” says Marshall.

“Companies are no longer able to sustain constant sickness at work, so wellness programmes are being incorporated, either as an executive perk, or as part of a company-wide programme.”

The writer, who spent decades working for the NHS, believes people can coach themselves to better general health and wellbeing by employing a series of simple techniques.

Her book is full of tips and activities designed to encourage people to take responsibility for their own health and wellbeing, instead of waiting until they fall ill before making those changes.

Marshall also suggests writing an Annual Health Plan.

“This can bring good intentions which may have been floating around in the back of your mind to the fore, and help you identify what you’ll do and how you’ll do it.

“Creating meaningful goals is central to the coaching process. Without them, how will you know where you’re going, how you’ll get there, or be able to recognise when you’ve arrived?”

She endorses the idea of doing mental rehearsals, acting out positive outcomes in your mind. Research shows that thinking such positive messages will encourage you to believe you can succeed.

But overall, she stresses, the only way to achieve change is to take action. “The book isn’t a quick fix by any means – people need to do the exercises to get the benefit.

“This isn’t about telling people what to eat or how to exercise.”

Achieve your goals

• If you want to take more exercise, keep your running shoes or walking boots by the front door – or put them on when you get up.

• Write supportive post-it notes to yourself and put them all over the house.

• Send yourself an encouraging email.

• Create a photo board reminding yourself of how you want to look when you’ve achieved your goal.

• Join an online support group so you can share ideas and encouragement with others trying to achieve the same goals.