I have a lot of things I want to accomplish in the upcoming year. Some of them are really small things (like learning to make hashbrowns, a breakfast food that has confounded me for years) and some are really big, like learning to live a more minimalist life.

In the past, I have begun each new year with great intentions but found following through really difficult—like many of those who create goals for the new year.

I think that’s because change is hard. We all want to improve and become better people — healthier, more productive, a better partner or friend. But it can be tough to stick to new behaviors.

So this year, I decided to get a little help from technology and research around the ideas of habit formation and willpower. By examining things like how smokers quit, why student perform well and how New Year’s resolvers stay on track, researchers are starting to discover how we can create lasting change in our lives.

The key? Habits. Good habits, it seems, are the crucial building blocks of a better, healthier, happier way of life.

But where do good habits come from? How do you create them?

Building an awesome habit

We’ve written about habits before on the blog. One of the most beneficial posts for me was Joel’s simple method to create a new habit:

1. Start so small you can’t fail
2. Work on the small habit for as long as it takes to become a ritual (something you’re pulled towards, rather than which requires willpower)
3. Make a very small addition to the habit, ideally anchored to an existing ritual

So it seems getting a little help building that initial habit could help a lot. Fortunately, there are tons of great tools and apps out there that want to lend a hand.

Here’s a look at some of the best free tools and apps I could find for building stronger habits.

Apps and tools to build strong habits

Web apps

21 Habit

The concept is simple: You pledge $21 that says you’ll keep up your new habit for 21 days, the time it takes to ingrain it as a habit. Each day you succeed, you get $1 back. Each day you fail, you forfeit $1, which 21habit donates to one of several charities.

42Goals

A simple tool for tracking your daily goals and keeping a log of your daily activities. Templates are provided for tracking all sorts of activities and habits, and you can also create your own custom goals. Data you collect is displayed in the style of chart you specify.

Beeminder

Beeminder puts a little sting into habit formation by requiring you to pay up if you aren’t able to keep your goals. You commit to pay something — initially $5 — after the first time you get off track with your new habit.

Chains.cc

This motivational tool uses the “don’t break the chain” method to help build good habits and break bad ones. Each day you complete a task you want to keep up, a visual streak grows. Bonus: There’s also an iPhone app for on-the-go habit-building.

Daytum

Whether you would like to tally a day or a year, Daytum helps you collect and visualize the most important statistics in your life—whatever they might be—and create an up-to-the-moment personal dashboard. Also has a companion iOS app!

Go F#^ing Do It

This site definitely doesn’t mince words! Nor does it shy away from its goal—helping you create new habits through accountability. All you need to get started is a goal, a deadline, some money and someone to act as your witness. If you don’t meet your deadline, there goes your cash.

HabitForge

This site is designed around accountability—a proven motivator in creating new habits. There are daily check-ins and progress reports, and a community to encourage you. You can even join or build a team of others working on the same thing as you.

Habitgrams

Set simple reminders to be sent through your choice of email or text.

iRunuRun

Focusing on a greatness method that zeroes in on tracking and quantifying focus on recurring behavior, this tool is a powerful performance and accountability platform. Also comes with an iOS app!

Lifetick

This web app first focuses on core values and then breaks them down into smaller goals and habits, with tons of visual progress reports. Also cool is the “Dreams” feature, where you can create and add to your lifelong “bucket list.”

Momentum

So this one is not quite a habit builder, but still too cool not to mention! Momentum is a personal dashboard designed to eliminate distraction and provide inspiration, focus, and productivity. Choose your goal or focus for the day and Momentum will gently remind you of it each time you go to open a new tab.

stickK

stickK focuses on incentives, accountability and community to help you keep up your habits. Each user creates a unique Commitment Contract to achieve goals within a particular timeframe. If you are unsuccessful, stickK lets your friends know about it. You can also put money on the line for any contract.

TinyHabits

BJ Fogg has studied human behavior for 20 years. His TinyHabits is a free, ongoing 5-day session in which you learn about habits, select 3 new habits you want and respond to a daily email. In less than 30 minutes total, he promises skills that will benefit you for a lifetime.

Both iOS and Android apps

HabitRPG

Life’s a game with HabitRPG, which rewards you for completing tasks and goals with gold, points, progress and more features. If you don’t complete tasks, your can loses health or even die and lose the progress you’ve made. You can also add friends to your group for community and accountability.

Lift

I have really enjoyed using Lift. The app does a great job is facilitating habits by breaking them down into small pieces and getting you into a routine. Check in when you complete goals of your choosing (popular ones include floss, run, meditate and more). For almost every habit there’s a great Q&A going on and an expert-led group that can help you come up with achievable goals.

iOS apps

Balanced

A simple way to celebrate daily successes that also creates motivation you may not even know you had. It starts you out with 50 suggested activities, so you’ll easily be able to find a new goal to work toward. Choose the ones that are right for you, or add your own to create your individual happiness list. Balanced gives you positive feedback, lets you know if you are on a streak, and keeps you aware of when you last did each activity.

Good Habits

Another “don’t break the chain” habit builder based on Jerry Seinfeld’s famous advice— with an added visual emphasis.

HabitClock

Need a wake-up call and a habit builder? HabitClocks not only wakes you up but also helps you perform morning routines that will improve your daily mood and productivity.

Loggr

If you want more control over how to create and track your habits, Loggr could be the answer. This app allows you to track, quantify, view and export any data—you choose what’s important to you.

Logsit

An easy way to keep track of your time and activities in order to get more insight into your behavior patterns. Reminders adjust to your behavior, and progress bars show the time until your next reminder.

Way of Life

 

Get the data you need to build better habits with Way of Life, which seems to track your habits in every visual way possible. As you collect more and more information, the idea is that you will be able to easily spot positive and negative trends in your lifestyle.

Android apps

The Fabulous

A habit-building app that focuses first on creating an awesome morning routine and then add other rituals to install healthy habits and mindfulness in your life. Users get tips for healthy living and a coach to motivate you to go further.

HabitBull

HabitBull lets you set reminders for each habit and displays them on days when you need to be successful, so you can use it as a to-do list, a calendar planning tool or checklist or a repeating reminder. Try to get a long streak for the habit you are working on by covering your goals—the longer the better!

Pledge

Pledge will remind you to do tasks you often neglect and highlight streaks and high scores so that you stay motivated and can focus on your goals. It also promises to “slightly judge you” if you don’t keep your promises, in case you might find that motivational.

I’m excited to try more of these tools to help me build strong habits in the new year and beyond. Maybe one of them could work for you, too!

As Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence therefore is not an act, but a habit.”

Bedlam has broken out at Surabaya’s Juanda International Airport, after Indonesian TV aired images of what appeared to be a dead body and aircraft debris floating in the Java Sea that were seen by relatives of passengers from the missing AirAsia Flight QZ 8501.

The relatives had been gathering at the airport, hoping for news of the Singapore-bound plane, which took off early Sunday morning with 162 passengers and crew on board and disappeared 42 minutes into the flight.

Air Asia later confirmed that the debris that was seen in the broadcast was that of the missing plane. “AirAsia Indonesia regrets to inform that The National Search and Rescue Agency Republic of Indonesia today confirmed that the debris found earlier today is indeed from QZ8501, the flight that had lost contact with air traffic control on the morning of 28th December 2014,” the airline said in a statement. “The debris of the aircraft was found in the Karimata Strait around 110 nautical miles south west from Pangkalan Bun.”

Tony Fernandes, group chief executive officer of AirAsia, added: “I am absolutely devastated. This is a very difficult moment for all of us at AirAsia as we await further developments of the search and rescue operations but our first priority now is the well-being of the family members of those on board QZ8501.”

Earlier, when graphic news images of a body were shown on TV screens set up in family waiting areas, dozens burst into hysterical wailing. At least two people fainted and were carried out to waiting ambulances.

Many of us who have used this time of year to turn our bodies around have fallen into the same cycle of failure: We’re frustrated with our size or weight, we vow that this is the year of skinny jeans, and we promise to skip the daily fataccinos.

On January 1, we’re all in. I’m going to do it! A month, a week, or a day later, we’ve backed out. Helloooo double-decker corned beef! To avoid the same fate in ’15, use these tactics while creating your diet and exercise declarations.

1. Nowadays, the word “resolution” almost comes with the understanding that you’re going to fizzle out by February. Better to re-frame the process and call it a goal. Or give it a life of its own with a name, like Operation Less-Jiggle, or The 2015 Strategic Body Re-Engineering Implementation Strategy, or Fred.
2. Vague platitudes (“lose some weight”) are less effective than specific directives (“I will set my alarm for noon every weekday for a 30-second stretch of my adductor longus muscles”).
3. Go back to the drawing board if your resolution includes the words “more selfies in the gym locker room.”
4. Motivation research tells us that three things need to be present to sustain your fire over time: autonomy (you control what you do, rather than letting others dictate it); competence (you have some success the more you do it); relatedness (you share the experience with others). Which means: You can manufacture your own motivation by choosing an action that includes all three elements.
5. Resolutions often fall into the all-or-nothing category. Therefore, rates of failure increase if you attempt an outright ban on gravy.
6. The common characteristic of exercise-quitters: Too much too soon. For newbies, three days a week in January will be better in the long run than six. Slow and steady won’t win many races, but it will this one.
7. Trying to stick to a daily resolution comes with pressure and stress that often leads to midnight lasagna binges. Instead, try weekly metrics. Rather than count daily calories, which can be frustrating and destructive if you miss your mark, give yourself a weekly benchmark to hit. (Note: There is some debate about whether calorie-counting works for everyone, but self-monitoring certainly can be effective for some people.) That gives you some flexibility to stray, incentive to eat well most of the week, and more of a global picture for what you’re trying to accomplish—that is, eat right most of the time. If you want wiggle room in your clothes, you have to give yourself wiggle room in your expectations.
8. Tweet/Facebook/Instagram/Snapchat your goal so that you can feel accountable.
9. Do not do No. 8 when the reasoning centers of your brain may be compromised, such as at 12:03 a.m. on January 1. #HappyNewYearImGivingUpBreakfastMeatsFOREVER won’t stick.
10. If you want to rid yourself of your dietary Achilles heel, cold turkey can be a rocky road. But eliminating your most evil temptation can work if you can choose some kind of substitute behavior for the addiction or habit, so that you give your brain something to do in its place.
11. Do not make the substitute barbecue corn chips.
12. If your resolution involves a new exercise plan, make a 5-minute backup workout for times you just don’t have the oomph to complete your intended session. It can be as simple as a handful of pushups, jumping jacks, lunges, and squats (no equipment required). The point: Do something that gives you some energy, so that you don’t beat yourself up for missing your workout on days when life gets in the way.
13. Pick a skill rather than a size. One of my favorite yearly goals came when I vowed to stand up on a surfboard (on a wave). Picking something you physically can’t do right now (run a certain distance, climb a small mountain) requires you to break down the steps that will help you get there—physically, nutritionally, mentally. The declaration of a goal isn’t what gets you to the goal; process is what gets you to the goal.
14. One of the best goals I heard in 2014 came from one of the spiritual leaders of the Sub-30 Club—a club I started a few years ago for people who wanted to run a sub-30-minute 5K, but includes many folks who were already speedier than that, like Laurie Canning. Laurie had said that her only running goal this year was to run with as many new people as she could, including those she had never met from our virtual group. Between training, new races, and meet-ups all over, she ended the year running with 25 new people. She says, “I have never enjoyed running as much as I have this year—ever.” By the way, Laurie also completed the year doing 20,000 strict military pushups and crushed her previous best marathon time, running a 4:11. My takeaway: You can use a deeper goal to help achieve other ones.
15. The best resolutions are also ones that you can share with other people. Recruit a couple of friends to join you (live or digitally). Report your progress, kick each other’s butts, high-five successes, hold regular meetings to discuss ups and downs.
16. Do not bring cupcakes to those meetings.
17. Set a date on the calendar, not a number on the scale. Find something—an event, a vacation—that means something to you. That’s where you’re headed. That’s why you’re running or swimming or getting your butt whooped by a boot-camp instructor. That’s why you reach for radishes when you need something to crunch. No, it’s not a finish line in this seemingly never-ending struggle, but it does give you a vision of where you want to go—and a few hints about why you want to get there.
18.  

 A health care worker who was diagnosed with the Ebola virus after returning to Scotland from Sierra Leone was transferred early Tuesday to the Royal Free Hospital in London.

The woman was working with Save the Children at an Ebola treatment center in Sierra Leone, according to Michael von Bertele, humanitarian director at that organization.

She traveled via Casablanca, Morocco, and London Heathrow Airport before arriving at Glasgow Airport on a British Airways flight late Sunday night, the Scottish health agency NHS Scotland said.

Possible Ebola exposure from CDC mistake

Time editor: Ebola epidemic far from over

After feeling unwell on Monday, she sought medical attention and

became the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola within the United Kingdom.

She has been named by British media outlets as Pauline Cafferkey, a public health nurse in Scotland's South Lanarkshire area, who was part of a 30-strong team of medical volunteers deployed to West Africa by the UK government last month in a joint endeavor with Save the Children.

She was reportedly transferred to London in a military aircraft fitted with an isolation pod.

The Royal Free Hospital is equipped with a high-level isolation unit, with access restricted to specially trained medical staff. A specially designed tent, with controlled ventilation, is set up over the patient's bed.

A British volunteer nurse, William Pooley, was successfully treated in the unit after he was brought home from Sierra Leone in August having been diagnosed with Ebola there.

'Extremely low' risk

UK authorities are working to trace those who have come into contact with Cafferkey.

The Scottish government has set up a special number for people to call if they traveled on the same London Heathrow to Glasgow flight as Cafferkey.

British Airways said it was working closely with health authorities in England and Scotland and would help with any information needed.

"The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our top priority and the risk to people on board that individual flight is extremely low," the airline said.

Ebola patients only become infectious after they display symptoms, such as fever and vomiting. The deadly virus is spread through contact with bodily fluids.

A Downing Street spokesman told CNN that Prime Minister David Cameron and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had discussed the procedures in place to handle such a case.

"The Prime Minister made clear that the UK government stood ready to assist in any way possible," the spokesman said.

"They agreed that both governments would remain in close touch and ensure everything possible was done to support the patient and, although the risk to the general population remained low, all measures would be taken to protect public health."

Possible cases

Meanwhile, a second woman is being tested for Ebola in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland, a spokesman for the Scottish government told CNN.

"She will soon be transferred to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. She was in West Africa recently although she had no direct contact with anyone with Ebola," he said.

A third suspected Ebola case is being tested in the southwest of England at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, heath officials said.

"We do not expect the results to be known for at least 24 hours and in the meantime the patient is being looked after in isolation, following nationally agreed guidelines and protocols to protect the health of our staff and other patients," said a joint statement from the hospital and Public Health England, a government agency.

According to UK government guidelines, humanitarian workers returning from Ebola-affected countries in West Africa who've been at high risk of exposure are expected to monitor their own health for 21 days after they get home.

As of December 24, at least 7,693 people had died in the current Ebola outbreak, centered in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the World Health Organization said. There have been at least 19,695 cases.

 One of Russia's most prominent opposition figures and his brother have

 been found guilty of fraud in a politically charged trial, state media reported Tuesday.

Blogger and Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was given a suspended sentence of three-and-a-half years, while his brother, Oleg, was given a prison term of the same length.

Both were hit with steep fines, but only Oleg Navalny was ordered to pay.

When the sentence was read out, Alexei Navalny shouted out in anger and frustration with the judgment against his brother.

Both brothers denied charges of embezzling 30 million rubles ($540,000) from a Russian subsidiary of French cosmetics company Yves Rocher between 2008 and 2012.

Despite the biting winter cold, supporters of Alexi Navalny gathered near the Kremlin in Moscow's main square Tuesday evening to protest against the verdict.

A Facebook page promoting the event predicted that thousands would attend, but the numbers were far smaller as the protest got underway.

The sentencing hearing was originally scheduled for January 15 -- when a big rally was planned -- but was brought forward at a day's notice, leading Navalny's supporters to slam what they said was an attempt to suppress protest.

Many people have left Moscow ahead of the New Year public holiday, making it harder to muster a crowd.

The protest is likely to be illegal because Navalny's supporters have not had enough time to apply for the permissions required under Russian law, raising the prospect of a confrontation between protesters and police.

After the sentencing, Navalny supporters also accused the Kremlin of using Oleg Navalny as leverage against his brother.

However, they did voice surprise that the sentences were not tougher. Prosecutors had asked for Alexei Navalny to be given a 10-year prison sentence and Oleg to receive an eight-year term.

A corruption-fighting lawyer, Alexei Navalny famously branded the ruling United Russia party -- founded by President Vladimir Putin -- "the party of crooks and thieves."

He was a prominent organizer of mass street protests three years ago and has attacked corruption in Russian government, using his blog and social media.

Before Tuesday's ruling he was under house arrest after he was convicted last year of misappropriating $500,000 worth of state-owned timber, in what he told CNN was a fabricated case.

Islamabad, Pakistan -- A fire sparked by a short circuit at a shop quickly engulfed a three-story shopping center in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Monday, killing at least 13 people.

The fire broke out at the Anarkali Bazaar. The building, which mostly houses shops that sells watches and clocks, had no firefighting equipment and no emergency exits, said fire official Jam Sajjad.

People inside were forced to flee through a single door, and most of the victims suffocated to death, said police official Asad Sarfraz.

A grim discovery in the waters off Indonesia on Tuesday dealt a heartbreaking blow to families whose loved ones were lost on AirAsia Flight QZ8501, and their anguish was felt around the world.

Debris from the plane was spotted about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the aircraft's last known location over the Java Sea, off the coast of Indonesia's Central Kalimantan province on Borneo.

Three bodies were recovered -- two women and one man, Indonesian search and rescue chief Bambang Soelistyo said, according to the Indonesian state-run Antara news agency.

"To the relatives, I feel your loss, and all of us pray that all of the families are given the strength and fortitude during this incident," Indonesian President Joko Widodo told journalists. He then went to meet with families.

"We are sorry to be here today under these tragic circumstances," said Sunu Widyatmoko, head of AirAsia Indonesia. "We would like to extend our sincere sympathies to the family and friends of those on board QZ8501. Our sympathies also go out to the families of our dear colleagues."

"My heart is filled with sadness for all the families involved in QZ 8501," AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes tweeted. "On behalf of AirAsia my condolences to all. Words cannot express how sorry I am."

Later, speaking with reporters, Fernandes said there is now "at least some closure" for families that might have been "holding out hope."

Hospitals in the Indonesian city of Surabaya are being prepared to help house and identify bodies being recovered off the coast of Borneo.

As families watched a live news conference about the discovery of the debris and saw video of a helicopter lowering a diver to what appeared to be a floating body, some people fainted. Stretchers were brought into the room.

Family members burst into tears, dabbing their eyes as officials passed out tissues. Some sat with their eyes full of tears, hands covering their mouths or heads buried in their hands. Others had phones jammed against their ears.

Military crew spotted an object's shadow

Soelistyo, the head of Indonesia's search and rescue agency, said the debris was discovered when a crew on a military aircraft spotted the shadow of an object that looked like a plane in the water.

Further searching found floating objects believed to be the bodies of passengers, and then what appeared to be an emergency exit of the plane. Officials sent other search teams racing to the area.

Several nations are contributing resources to the effort, including the United States. The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Sampson arrived Tuesday.

The USS Fort Worth is also being prepared to deploy from Singapore, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby told CNN on Tuesday. It "can be ready to sail in a day or two to get on
The United States is also preparing maritime patrol aircraft that could help, he said.

The flight, which was lost Sunday on its way to Singapore, was carrying 155 passengers and seven crew members. The overwhelming majority were Indonesians. There were also citizens of Britain, France, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea.

Search and rescue teams are diverting all their resources to where the debris is, in the Karimata Strait, about 110 nautical miles southwest of the Indonesian city of Pangkalan Bun, AirAsia said.

Divers and ships with sonar equipment are being sent to the site, where the water depth varies between 25 and 30 meters (about 80 to 100 feet), Soelistyo said.

How can a modern airliner vanish?

Unanswered questions

Fernandes said the focus for now must remain on the recovery effort, and no sweeping changes were planned for the airline, which has 1,000 flights a day. "But rest assured," he said, that once the investigation is done, if "there are things we need to change, that we will change it."

The Airbus A320-200 lost contact with air traffic control early Sunday shortly after the pilot requested permission to turn and climb to a higher altitude because of bad weather, according to Indonesian officials.

Authorities mounted a huge effort to find the aircraft, mapping out a search zone covering 156,000 square kilometers.

Questions remain unanswered about why Flight 8501 lost contact with air traffic control and what happened afterward.

Some experts have said the aircraft might have experienced an aerodynamic stall because of a lack of speed or from flying at too sharp an angle to get enough lift.

Analysts have also suggested that the pilots might not have been getting information from onboard systems about the plane's position or that rain or hail from thunderstorms in the area could have damaged the engines.

The key to understanding what happened is likely to be contained in the aircraft's flight recorders.

"Until we get the black boxes, we won't know what's going on with the engines," Bill Savage, a former pilot with 30 years of experience, told CNN.

'It was to be his last vacation with his family'

Details have emerged about some of the people on board the plane.

They include Alain Oktavianus Siauw, whose fiance says she was on her way to the airport to pick him up when she heard the plane had gone missing.

Louise Sidharta said Siauw was supposed to be enjoying a family vacation before the two got married. "It was to be his last vacation with his family," she said.

Siauw's Facebook page says he lives in Malang, a province in Indonesia.

The disappearance of Flight 8501 also stirred painful memories of the families of people on board Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which dropped off radar over the South China Sea in March.

Nearly 10 months later, searchers are still combing remote reaches of the southern Indian Ocean for any trace of the Boeing 777 that had 239 people on board.

"The lack of ability to close things down emotionally is just exhausting," Sarah Bajc told CNN on Monday night. Her partner, Philip Woods, was on board Flight 370.

When news broke that another plane had disappeared this week, Bajc said, "I just started to shake."station and can be there very quickly," he said.