Faced with the dawn of a new year people tend to fall into one of two camps: those who seize the opportunity to set New Year's resolutions, and those who don't. Both have common sense on their side.

On the one hand, the new year provides us with an opportunity for a fresh start. It's a time when many of us are naturally inclined to define new goals and establish new habits. On the other, the whole tradition of resolutions can be seen as a diabolical setup for failure.

I've intentionally selected quick and easy steps so you can choose to do them, swap one for the other at the last minute, squeeze in one more before bed, or rotate a variety of options in and out of your daily routine.

Even if you don't feel like working one resolution area on a given day, you might be willing to take action on another. And inciting action is what this year's resolutions should be all about. So let's get started!

Get active.People often think of exercise as something you do in different clothes, in different places, and where you're required to be sweating and out of breath, but that's just one piece of it.

Consider this: there are two kinds of keeping fit. The first is lifestyle exercise, where you decide to park on the far end of the parking lot or to take the stairs instead of the lift; the second is engineered exercise, where you take a little more time to plan out your day to add activity, like deciding to ride your bike to work.

If you already work out regularly, good for you. If not ? or just not as much as you?d like ? here are some super-convenient ways to build more activity into your life:

Make movement the first thing you do. Spend a few minutes moving your body just after waking up. Here are three morning exercises you can try including first thing:

1) Keep an exercise mat by your bed (so it is the first thing you see when you open your eyes) and get in five minutes of stretching or calisthenics (think pushups, sit-ups, jumping jacks or yoga) before you shower.

2) Do calf raises at the sink while you brush your teeth.

3) Do some kettlebell swings or exercise-band resistance moves while your coffee is brewing.

Make TV time workout time. Keep your fitness equipment ? a stability ball, a jump rope, hand weights ? near the TV. Give yourself a fitness goal for every commercial break. For example: 10 pushups, 10 crunches, 10 squats. Or, assume and hold a plank position for one or more 30-second adverts.

Take the stairs ? two at a time. Skipping steps, particularly if you do it quickly, substantially increases both your strength and cardio effort. So does running the stairs rather than walking them. Post a reminder like 'Hop to it!' on your home stairways that encourages you to climb them with more gusto.

Do double duty. Instead of meeting friends for happy hour, see if they want to chat while walking around the park. Meeting with a co-worker over lunch? Suggest walking to a nearby restaurant and talking on the way. Also, never sit for a phone conversation when you can stand, pace or better yet, do walking lunges. Invest in a headset so you can move freely while you talk.

Build in fitness breaks. Set up three schedule reminders ? one every two hours or so ? to go off during your workday. When the alarm sounds, get up and move your body for just five minutes. You can jog around the building, run a few flights of stairs, lift and lower your chair, whatever gets your heart (and metabolism) pumping.

Stretch yourself. On days you don't feel like getting sweaty, or when you just don't have enough energy for a full-on workout, put on some low-key music and do a whole-body stretch routine instead.

Write it down. On the days you do exercise (even if it's just a little), log what you did and how it felt. On the days you don't exercise at all, log that too and note the patterns that led to you not being willing or able to exercise. Afterward, take three deep breaths of gratitude for the body you have and three more deep breaths while visualising yourself in the act of joyfully being active. Associating positive thoughts and emotions with exercise ? even when you don?t exercise ? can help break down resistance and build motivation.

Just the Beginning

Taken alone, none of these steps are outrageously ambitious, yet the collective power of such daily actions and choices is astonishing. And once you're into the swing of making modest shifts like those presented here, you can devise similar small steps for any goal.

Just be as specific as you can about the goal you wish to achieve, then brainstorm some small, simple steps you could take right away ? daily or weekly ? toward that goal. Find a way to visibly track and document your progress and keep yourself focused on the actions that make a difference. Before long, you will be building unstoppable momentum and reaping rewards that once seemed out of reach.

As you move toward your goals, make sure you glance behind you every once in a while and acknowledge your incremental gains, whether it's through kilometers walked, centimeters lost or energy increase. Notice and celebrate your success over time, use it as the motivation you need to keep on going.