Make It Goals, Not Resolutions

It's the last day of the year, and millions of people will make a list of New Year's Resolutions. Their intent is perfectly fine, but before a full month is gone, most resolutions are broken. They lay by the side of the road getting trampled and torn until they fly away on a winter wind. They'll never be seen again.

I prefer setting goals rather than making resolutions. Goals are something we can work toward a little at a time all through 2011. Goals are almost always positive whereas resolutions don't always come under that category.

You don't need to make a list of 25 goals for this year. Try one or two or even three, but keep the number achievable. Anyone who creates a lengthy list of goals is going to feel overwhelmed before they even begin. Whether the goals are about your personal world or your writing world, you won't want to make the goals so difficult to reach that you feel defeated before you get started. There are many steps in every stairway. Take your goals as you do the steps--one at a time.

When the first of each new month arrives, make a quick assessment of those goals. What did you do the previous month toward each one? Then ask yourself what you would like to do, or need to do, in the new month. It's better to do this monthly than wait until next December 31st and ask yourself if your goal(s) was achieved.

Scratch the resolutions this year. Make it goals instead.

Happy New Year to all!.