New Year's Resolutions Ideas

New year, new resolutions. Have you got your list together? It doesn't have to be hard if you don't want it to be. The first thing to do is really sit down and be prepared to come up with a list of things you want for yourself or possibly want to change. Setting aside time for yourself and allowing your imagination to brainstorm helps make this easier for you.

What do you want?

This is the most important question to ask yourself and although it's a simple question, sometimes, many people have a lot of difficulty with it. Is there anything that you want to achieve? Is there a habit you want to stop? Are you being honest and realistic with yourself?

It doesn't have to be hard. You can start with something small just like you're taking baby steps. Once you've got a rhythm going and your confidence starts to increase then you can take even bigger steps. Things will begin to speed up from here as you rack up little successes along the way.

Some people give in to peer pressure and let others decide things for them but this may not necessarily be what YOU want. You'll have to be very careful because sometimes what you want and what others want are drastically different. It's a good idea to distance your decision making away from anything that will create a situation that doesn't work for you.

Here's where the rubber meets the road. Most people will probably not do this part at all!! Once you have an idea of what you want now it's time for you to create a plan of action! This will involve a series of things you'll do and a time frame to do it in.

Sound simple? It can be, if you want it to.

Let's say you want to stop smoking in six months. Get out your calendar and write down what you're going to do in month one, then month two, all the way to month six.

It takes a lot of strength and a lot of commitment when you're blazing ahead with the actions you said you were going to do. There will be times when you want to quit and just forget it. But, if you really want it, you'll be able to achieve it.

This one's pretty simple. All you have to do is measure where you are with the goal you had in mind. Have you moved closer to the goal by ten percent? twenty five percent? Sometimes people will work much harder to achieve the goal faster if they see serious results just by doing what they're already doing.

But, what if you see that you're not making any progress at all? Once you see that things are backtracking then you'll have to go and analyze what's slowing you down do so you can get rid of it and move forward.

One other thing to mention is if you're holding yourself accountable.  This means your actions are creating your results.  That's it.  If your actions aren't creating real results, you've got to change your actions so that it does.

Here will be a nice little list of ideas so your brain can get those creative juices flowing. It may or may not be for you. That's fine. Just pick and choose any or all which you think might apply to your own individual situation and tweek accordingly.

All sorts of ideas come to mind if this is something you'll want to do this year.  

• Check the travel sites for bargain priced deals - Some sites offer fares for under $100 going one way so if this is something fun you've been wanting to do then at least it won't hurt the finances all that much if you catch those great sales.
• Check out cruise sites for heavily discounted offers - Some cruises get discounted up to 80% or higher depending on destination.  This might be fun if you've never taken a cruise before.
• What about a road trip? - Depending on your budget, you'll want to definitely think this one over.  It can be fun for sure but just try and use a car that's good on gas or this can get expensive fast.  

There's a motherload of sites to check out for saving money.  The people posting stuff there range from the unskilled to the downright cheapskates.  For example, if you try and eat soup with a fork, you're gonna save a lot on water!

If I had a dollar for every time I've heard this one.  There's so many fads and books and tapes. Comments are totally invited for any suggestions on this one.

There's a small number of books that actually nail this topic spot on.  One book that comes to mind is The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason.  Just thought I'd mention.

Checking out the job sites is cool......just don't do it from your computer at your current job!

Who wouldn't want a boss that's actually cool and understanding?  Is there such a thing?

• Go To A Gym - One thing I try to look for is a bargain priced gym membership so that the price won't deter me from wanting to tone up a little bit.
• Eat Healthier Food - In today's day and age this one's not easy.  Maybe buy a juicer?  Or eat more salad (yeah, I know, this one's gonna take a LOT of WILLPOWER!)
• Sleep Better - Hmmm, do those "Sounds of Nature" cd's help?

Hustle and bustle got you down? Work scheduling just making things more difficult? Well, if you can preplan something in advance.....waaay in advance unless there's some family members you really WANT to avoid!

Take more pictures. When you take a look at some of the photos, time stands still and you can remember good times. But if you don't have many, what memories and enjoyment was there? Gotta love digital cameras, man!

Now, if you've never tried to get things under control then maybe, just maybe you need a professional. There are people who can take a look at your living space or closet and they'll whip it into shape.....for a fee!

Just don't ask me to do it for you cause I'll probably be busy that day!