Resolutions?

OK, so this is a little late, but I've got to give my two cents on the issue of new year's resolutions.

It seems as each year winds down and a new one begins, we realize all the things we hoped that we had done that we didn't and all the things we want to change about ourselves. For many of us, this is the rare time when we actually are a bit introspective and evaluate how we are doing and not just doing our day-to-day routine.

But, invariably, most of us make the ambitions to get in shape, spend more time with family, spend less money, etc., only to fall back into our old ways by mid-February.

My take one it is that many of us simply make a vague goal- to get in shape, to spend less money, etc. The problem with this is that we don't have any way to easily measure how we're doing and give up easily because it can feel like we're not making progress. I think the way to real change is to set achievable goals or objectives. This way, we do have some hope of achieving them and we also are able to measure how we are doing.

The best goals are those that are achievable, but ones that aren't super-easy either. We should have to work to achieve our goals; they shouldn't just come easily.

For example, one of my goals for the year is to cut back the amount of money that I spend. To that end, I have identified some specific areas that can be cut and ways to make those cuts. So, it will be easy for me to check in a few weeks and see how I'm doing. Either I've met one of these objectives or I haven't; there's no guesswork involved.

So, I have set my goals and come up with a plan to get there...