Hooray for a new year!  Hooray for 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and so!  Hooray for new goals!  One thing that I love is setting goals for myself that are challenging and rewarding.  Rather than making new resolutions in January every year I typically have goals each month for myself throughout the entire year.  They can be simple goals such as setting a Christmas budget for myself in September, jotting down all the ideas I have for people on my Christmas list in October, and then finishing my Christmas shopping by the end of the first week in November.  Further, rather than setting “negative” goals and resolutions I try to set goals that have a “positive” spin.  So rather than setting a goal of losing weight, I would set a goal of eating healthier.  For example, set a goal of eating out for lunch once a week and eating an apple with peanut butter or caramel with your lunch so your goal doesn’t become dreaded and can easily be incorporated with your typical lunch routine.

Weight and eating resolutions are typical goals every year, but all too often these resolutions fail, not because the person doesn’t try or doesn’t care, but because the person loses motivation when he/she doesn’t see instant results or becomes wrapped up in the chaos of daily life.  While I know it is not New Year’s yet, there’s no perfect time to set new goals or resolutions for yourself.  Rather than putting off what you can start today, make a plan, set your goals, and make yourself accountable for what you want to accomplish.  One of my favorite sayings to remember is, “Why wait until tomorrow when you can start or do it today?”

So, rather than waiting until January to make a plan because you just want to “get through the holidays” aka eating the scrumptious candies and desserts and the exhaustion of finishing your Christmas shopping consider making yourself accountable during the holidays so you don’t feel so guilty in January.  Many people feel guilty in January because of all the food, chaos, and stress from the holiday season.  Then once New Year’s rolls around, people make resolutions to help make up for it.  The problem with this is that we often tend to make goals that are unattainable in order to fill the gaps and inefficiencies from the holidays.

My suggestion is to START NOW!  Happy day, month, and year of positive goals and accountability.  Change starts now, not tomorrow, not next week or next month or next year.  Change starts with yourself, not with an organization or group of friends, so start your goals today.  You will thank yourself tomorrow for what you accomplish today.  Cheers to the new year from me to you!

~jj