I don’t make new year’s resolutions…

I never make new years resolutions.  I don’t like the pressure of trying to keep them up when I know for sure that I will break them. If you read wikipedia’s definition of a resolution, “A New Year’s resolution is a commitment that an individual makes to a project or the reforming of a habit, often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous.”  However, I do try to recharge myself each year with a couple of goals in mind. Now a goal is defined as, “A goal or objective is a projected state of affairs that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve—a personal or organizational desired end-point in some sort of assumed development. Many people endeavor to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines.”  I like that definition much better so I’m going with personal goals for 2010.  You strive to achieve goals; its too easy to cancel a commitment.  2010 is a new decade that will be filled with so many changes in my life so why not start fresh!  Thus, I share with you a few goals of mine for 2010 (not necessarily in order of importance).

1.  Become an expert in my new job within six months: this one is very important to me as I just started a new job that was a great promotion in my career.  I’m still a bit nervous about the job as its something I haven’t done before but I’m very excited about the long term prospects.

2. Develop a health and fitness routine within 30 days: I’ve been slowly heading this direction but I need to stick with a routine.  I’ve recently started the Insanity program and already overhauled my eating habits… more on this later.

3. Re-evaluate our financial situation and set long term personal finance goals within the next 14 days:  With a substantial increase in salary in my new job and Andrew’s strong financial situation at his job, its time we start an aggressive financial investment plan.

4. Invest more time in friends and family by increasing my contact time with them by 20% each week throughout the next year: family and friends are one of the foundations to happiness.

5. Re-evaluate my involvement with community organizations and choose to focus my efforts on only 1-2 organizations this year:  I’m involved with too many organizations so I can’t give them 100% of my time and efforts.  I need to reassess my personal and professional interests and decide what organizations I can help further but are also helping me achieve my long term goals.

6. Spend 20% more time on my hobbies but also try at least 3 new hobbies this year:  I love photography but I’m still sub-professional because I do not spend enough time practicing – I need to change this!  I also have a LONG list of things I would like to try out this year so now I’m going to put it on paper and then DO IT!

If I can achieve at least a few of these goals for myself this year then I will certainly become a better person.  The problem is always time.  I always let myself get too involved and then let a few other important ones lag behind.  The key to achievement is setting measurable goals – always give yourself a deadline, number and/or percentage to achieve your goal (see mine in bold above).  MAKE YOUR GOAL MEASURABLE AND KEEP YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE!  This part is VERY important. More on how I plan to achieve these goals in a later post.  I feel that writing these down in a public setting will encourage me to achieve them.  I also need your encouragement to keep me motivated so please check in with me!

I hope you find the inspiration for setting your own personal goals in 2010.  Happy New Year!