The success of your New Year’s goal to lose weight may depend on something as simple as the way you view necessities and luxuries.

According to a groundbreaking study in the Journal of Consumer Research, you need to look at the way your goals intersect with your nature. Apparently, people react differently to indulgence vs. restriction goals.

Here’s what that means…

When you try to make a change, you first choose the goal. Then you form what’s called an implementation intention. That’s when you determine which behaviors and options are consistent with the chosen goal.

If you make a budget, for example, you’ll have to determine which purchases are necessities as opposed to luxuries.

But this is exactly where you can get messed up when pursuing your goal. If you choose a goal that’s out of sync with your personality, you’re much less likely to succeed.

The researchers found that people who had low self-control performed better with so-called indulgence goals, such as enjoying the things they buy more.

But people who had more self-control liked restriction goals better. That means they considered fewer purchases to be necessities.

So the success of your New Year’s resolution, including losing weight, may depend on your self-control level and the type of goal you pursue.