Last year, I made a list of goals that I wanted to achieve before I turn 40.  Since I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, I kept everything general.  I seemed to somehow think that if I didn’t put pressure on myself, these goals would take care of themselves.  A year and some later, I don’t understand my thinking.  I’m not a hot-house flower, I don’t wilt under pressure.  I don’t crack under pressure, so why would I think that I could get away with making generalized goals, as if this was a good enough answer.

New Year’s resolutions hardly ever work.  You have to want something bad enough to make real changes.  Generally resolutions tend to be formed with a touch of regret when you look back on the previous year.  I’ve seen it time and time again in the weight loss world.  ‘This year is my year, this year is the year I lose weight.’  Yet these same people will binge and tell you that they fell off the wagon.  Or they’ll simply underestimate how much they’re eating, and try to fool you that they’re actually eating less than 1500 calories a day and they’re gaining weight.

New Years resolutions are unnecessary if you simply make a list of what you want to do for the year, research what needs to be done, and follow through on the action plan.  Yea, it’s really not as simple as it sounds.

Resolutions tend to fall under several different categories.  Health, and Money are two big ones.  I’m going to get a better job.  I’m going to write a best-seller and make over six figures this year.  I’m going to lose 100 lbs and be happy and healthy.  After all, if you’re fat, then obviously you’re not happy, and you’re definitely not healthy.  And if you’re not making a lot of money, then you’re not happy either, you don’t have enough money to buy all the things you want.

Yea, whatever.

My goals this year are related to

1. Money: I want a different job
2. Family: I want more time with my family, (my kids, my parents/brothers/sister)
3. Health: I want to do what needs to be done to improve my health

Obviously there are a number of sub-goals under there.  Spending time with my family would mean moving to FL where they now live.  Getting a different job will mean figuring out what I want to do, and finding a plan to get a job in that field, etc.

I think February may be the best month for reflection on the changes that need to be made in my life.  By now, the chaos surrounding the holidays has ended.  I no longer have to help my husband with his paper routes and can sleep through the night.  My youngest is slowly getting out of the habit of waking in the middle of the night as well since his dad and I aren’t in the living room rolling papers.  It’s still winter, and still close enough to the beginning of the year that I’ll have plenty of time to follow through on any plans throughout the year.

All in all, it’s a good time to decide what I foresee in the next 11 months.