RALEIGH — Elizabeth Balle has battled her addiction to cigarettes for ten years. She recently turned to auricular therapy, which uses electrical impulses to block nicotine withdrawal in the brain. She hopes 1997 will be a smoke-free year.

For many people, the new year is the time to change bad habits. Like overspending, overeating, or lack of exercise. The key is not to change too much too fast. If you do, you may end up right back where you started from.

Chris Mondragon, a personal trainer, and Rose Langley, a nutritionist, both explain part of the phenomenon of those who drop their resolutions.

Mental health experts say it's good to set goals. They caution that it takes, on average, 28 days to break or create a habit, meaning you must stick with your goal long enough to make it a reality.

Dr. David Colvard, a psychiatrist, says that goals should be reachable and reasonable.

Dr. Colvard uses the acronym SMART as a way to set reachable goals. S stands forspecific, M formotivational, A for attainable, R forrelevant, and T for trackable.

He says applying these principles can help you to avoid failure.

Reported byAmanda Lamb.