What”s your New Year”s resolution?
Another year came and went, 2011 is right around the corner, do you have your resolution picked out?
At the start to every new year, most people choose a goal for themselves; something of significance that represents a drive for self-improvement.
The three most common game-plans being: quit smoking, lose weight and saving more money.
However, statistically only 8 percent of all resolutions will be kept, no joke.
For more interesting statistics, Google scholar will provide you with the links to all sorts of interesting quack-bits.
There are many reasons resolutions are usually abandoned, life happens, things change or come-up, the goals are unrealistic. Sometimes the person setting them has absolutely no self-motivation whatsoever or simply gives up.
But whatever the case may be and regardless of whether or not the resolution is a success by the end of the year, the desire to grow, change and improve an aspect of one”s life is something we as human beings all share.
When looking at most people”s resolutions, they often aim for very high goals: “get out of debt,” “commit to a serious relationship,” “pay off the mortgage,” etc. but usually take the incorrect steps toward obtaining that goal and when the realization that these things probably can”t be done in a single year, they become disheartened and quit; thence rendering resolutions as obsolete.
But let us not be disheartened, where there”s a will there is a way and with patience, diligence and carefully analyzed advice, anyone can fulfill a New Year”s resolution. We all know the fable of the tortoise and the hare, yes? The moral of the story: “slow and steady wins the race.” Usually the best way to obtain something is to approach it one proverbial step at a time.
Let”s say you set a goal like saving more money each month and the plan is to take a percentage out of your paycheck and cut down on your spending.
Alas, life happens, new bills arrive, unforeseen medical issues come up, or income status changes and the resolution no longer seems probable, however, there are still silly little measures you can take.
OK, on with the silliness, start a swear jar. Every time an exclamation of sheer belligerent refuse passes your lips, put a nickel in a jar and keep it tucked away. You”ll be amazed how quickly it will fill up and not only will you be saving a little cash every week, you”ll also be polishing yourself up as well.
Another silly little tidbit of money saving tactics, is to simply pick up pennies or other coins when you stumble upon them in parking-lots or on sidewalks. I know, it sounds gross and pointless but pennies turn into dollars and eventually add up. I had a friend who, over the course of five to seven months, officially collected more than $200 in loose change he found all over the county; this included dimes, nickels, quarters and the occasional dollar bill.
Remember, you don”t have to set a specific goal, you could opt to simply spend the year enriching your life in little ways like building on your vocabulary by learning a new word every week, trying new types of cookies from around the world or learning a new language, which is actually easier then you may think.
I have studied both Japanese and Hindi for my literary major and found that Rosetta Stone and other professional home language software just did not work for me.
From my own experience, I found using children”s language software and workbooks was both simple and fun with games, coloring activities and all sorts of easy to learn poems and songs aided the best in remembering necessary phrases in speech and also in reading and writing.
Try to simply have fun, do something harebrained like setting a goal to use the word “promenade” in a sentence at least once every month; then you will have used it at least 12 times in a year.
Whatever you choose, try to keep your stress down as much as possible. I know, I know ? easier said than done, but nonetheless, set a goal and investigate ways of accomplishing it that will allow you to utilize your knowledge and skills, improve your attitude and confidence and finally, will give you a sense of fulfillment in your life; and remember, if you do not accomplish your goal in the speedy manner you had hoped for, no worries.
Take comfort and pride in the fact that you are at least on the road to success.
Slow and steady wins the race.
When Michelle Berger is not writing, she”s usually re-enacting famous fight scenes from Kung-Fu flicks. Reach her at mberger_
