Once again it’s that time of the year when people begin to make decisions on how they are going to live their lives in the coming year. They believe that they ought to start the New Year on a new slate. They begin to make resolutions either to do or not to do certain things. Some people make decisions to quit smoking, while others make decisions to be more honest in their dealings with other people. The list of resolutions made by people all over the world is endless.

However, some people do not subscribe to the need for New Year resolutions. Their reasons being that, you do not have to wait for the turn of the New Year for you to take important decisions in your life. The New Year is the same as every other year, so there’s no need waiting for the first of January for you to do what you ought to do.

The truth is, whether you believe in New Year resolutions or not, as the year 2010 comes to a close, take a decision towards living a positive and productive life in the coming year. Strive to be the best in whatever you do. Be nice to people, take a decision to be happy and thankful no matter what.

This New Year, I have decided to touch the lives of those around me in my bid to make the world a better place. What’s your New Year resolution?

I signed up on triond because a friend of mine boasted about this website and the earnings he was receiving every month. However, it was not until this year that I have been able to spend some time publishing many more articles and interacting with the triond community. I have noticed that many triond users somehow create a constant stream of random articles that is physically impossible and are rewarded with many thousands of views and monthly awards. Then there are the users who are human and create their own work however it seems to be cheap material, such a very short article on material that is in no way noteworthy. Then there are those who are truly committed and produce literary pieces that note only have effort etched in the words themselves, but one can also see the talent flowing through the piece, whether it’s an informative article or a creative work. It is no secret that all users have signed up on triond for some monetary gain for their creative contribution; however, I find it important not to lose the value of writing in an effort to achieve more views and earnings. So go ahead and create; but remember that we are a community of individuals on a mission to put our time, effort, and love of writing into our published material for the benefit of the world to read, and consequently we get rewarded with monetary gain. Just don’t lose focus of the mission…

Happy New Year. May you all find some success in your literary endeavors.

    Another year has passed, and a new one is at hand. It is not good for people to stay the same; there must be progress. The latter could never be experienced if nothing is done.  If we do the same thing over and over again, then the result would be similar; meaning, the outcome is identical. The beginning of a new year is a time to evaluate oneself. By doing that, we can be aware of our failures and mistakes, its causes, and the steps on how to avoid the same.

    There are hundreds of resolutions being planned at the commencement of any year, but only a few could last at the end of it. Here are some of the most often expressed resolutions:  this year, I would spend more time with my family;  this year, I would make myself physically fit;  this year, I have to shed extra pounds and make my figure a bit attractive; this year, I will stop smoking. I will do it for my health and for my family. Those are good resolutions, but unless they become a reality, they are useless.

    What then is the key to a new year’s resolution to succeed? The answer is, a person must have to partner with someone.  It cannot be done alone; and who would that partner be? No other than God himself.  Without God’s help, our intentions in changing ourselves and plans for the future could easily crumble into pieces. As the saying goes “ Man proposes, God disposes”. Human beings can make any plans they want, big or small, but it is God that decides their success or failure. Let us include God as a partner in our new year’s resolution.

To go about my life next year, I listed the following resolutions that I believe will make me become healthy, productive and happy person.

Continue exercising regularly- although doing exercise is my routine, it is an on off activity. Sometimes I skip it for valid reason such as when I get sick. Exercise keeps me from getting sick of diabetes, high blood pressure and arthritis. Exercise improves my health and adds years of my life. For the next year, I don’t want a heavy exercise but a moderate one that is done on a sustainable and regular basis.

Have proper diet- it is said that we are what we eat. Foods aside from providing us sustenance are also natural medicines. They contain nutrients and anti oxidant properties that can boost our immune system.  Some foods especially those that contain lots of fats and cholesterol are not good for the health and may even trigger the occurrence of some diseases.  In the coming year I should be more selective on the foods that I eat so that I would be as healthy as ever.

Be more productive- I should keep myself busy. It does not mean that I will work myself to death just for the sake of doing something. My intention is to make myself preoccupied to keep myself away from bad thoughts and activities. Undesirable ideas pops up when I’m doing nothing. By making myself busy I could be more productive and earn more money.

Reduce expenses and save money- I should budget my money properly to make it sufficient for my needs. I should also do away with the things that I don’t really need or those that are luxurious. In that way I could save more money. The money that is saved can be added to my bank account which will grow as time goes by. I can say saving is good for a person irrespective of his age. Saving will be most beneficial to the younger people.

Enjoy life to the fullest- life will be dull and boring if one has to focus too much on his work. Doing a variety of activities makes life more interesting and enjoyable. After a day or several days of work I should give myself a rest and a recreation. There are many things around me that are inexpensive to enjoy with. And these things include viewing and exploring nature like the forest and mountain, going to the beach with friends or colleagues, eating outside, watching movies and reading magazines and books. I already enjoy these things, but I want to enjoy them intensively next year.

Make more self improvement- education is a continuous process. In my former organization, the military, officers and soldiers were sent to military school at different stages of their career to update their knowledge and to learn new skills to better equip them to carry out their duties. I found that practice useful in my personal and civilian life because I believe that a person needs knowledge. A person should always educate himself informally as long as he lives, and age is no hindrance for anyone who wants to acquire knowledge. I too have to educate myself more to be better in the activities that I am into. It is fortunate that with the advent of the internet, any person can surf the web to learn things or acquire new skill without going to school and without paying money. 

Do something that will contribute to common good or to the benefit of the community- a man is a social being and he should participate in the activities of the community in which he is a part of. Examples are planting trees, cleaning and ridding the creek of garbage, and contributing a small amount of money for a worthy cause.

Do you really think that January 1st is going to give you the courage and motivations to drop those extra pounds? Probably not. Lets be realistic if you wanted to lose the weight you wouldn’t have waited till January 1st to do it, you would have started 6 months ago when you noticed your pants were a little snug.

2. To Quit Drinking

Pretty sure you have already blew this one right out of the water, I mean you did toast in the New Year, right?

3. To be a Millionaire

Really?!? Pretty sure the Publisher Clearing House is not going to be knocking on your door or any one’s door for that matter. Sorry

4. To Fall in Love

If your still single and have been for a while now, I’m pretty sure the New Year is not going to change it. Maybe its the people you are dating maybe its you, take the year off and focus on you. Trust me you don’t want to end up with some dead beat, its better to take your time and test drive a few out before you commit.

I really do hope everyone has a SAFE and HAPPY NEW YEARS and lets keep the unrealistic resolutions in the past.

There are many of us who over the years have ambitiously embarked on a courageous New Year resolution to accomplish. I’m sure by now many of us would have thought about or even have decided on a resolution to achieve something in 2012. This article is meant to give an insight into Christian New Year resolutions we could reflect on and adopt. First some fundamental overview of resolutions

Anatomy of Failure

It also shouldn’t come as surprise to us that the majority of us would have abandoned and even seen failure with resolutions by the end of January. In fact research indicates that 80% of us would have broken our resolves by January 31! Sadly only 5% of us would have continued in our quest to see through the resolution by year end. At the end of day when we prepare our New Year resolution, we are half-hearted about it.
Let’s first diagnose the reason for failure of such resolutions before we attempt to create one for 2012. The major cause of failed resolutions is our expectation of success or level of confidence of achieving our objective. Simply put, if you expect to fail, it will be a self-fulfilling prophecy and if you have the confidence to succeed, you will achieve your goal 100% or close to it. So let’s keep this in mind trying to formulate our New Year resolution. The other reason is that we have more than one resolution for the year. Let’s face it it’s easier to just focus on one resolution for the year.

Resolution Selection Principles

Let’s now get down to the steps to undertake to set-up resolutions we can fulfill. These are based on the SMART principle and they are an acronym for:

1. Specific – being specific makes it easier for implementation, monitoring and the other elements below. If you’re not specific we are unable to define if we are successful or otherwise.

2. Measurable – it should be quantifiable otherwise it cannot be measured. Hence qualitative goals are bound to fail simply because you have no way of determining progress

3. Achievable – it has to be a task that we are confident of achieving. The only way of ascertain achievability is to conduct an analysis of our strengths and weaknesses to establish if we are capable of undertaking a specific goal.

4. Realistic – although goals are meant to be challenging, it should also not be unrealistic. This is related to the element of achievability and can be discovered by the strength and weaknesses analysis above.

5. Time-specific – we have to fix a time frame for achieving the goal we set. Typically for New Year resolutions this can be at the end of the year. Naturally there are some resolutions that could have a shorter period.

Christian New Year Resolutions

* Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
o To practice, display and discuss my faith openly in public schools and institutions although they will attempt to silence me.

Ensuring Success

Now that we selected one SMART resolution, we will need to employ these tactics to ensure we will not falter.

1. Write it down in your journal or planner

2. Prepare action plans that you need to perform daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, etc. Needless to mention – write this down too

3. Monitor on a monthly interval to analyze progress and take corrective measures – don’t monitor weekly as over monitoring can cause exasperation and demotivate you. Record these results too.

4. Inform family members – as they will act as your support especially when you feel overwhelmed

5. Inform and discuss with your parish priest – he will assist you as your spiritual director to help you persevere

Happy New Year and God Bless you and I hope you achieve whatever you set out to do.

1. Vacation mood. This is the time of the year when a lot of flight schedules are fully-booked. Those who work abroad and even those who work from different local places really want to go home during this season. Those who work near their homes on the other hand want to go somewhere else for a vacation. Others who can’t afford an expensive travel prefer to stay at home still on their feeling of relaxing vacation.

2. Shopping mood. According to studies, it is in December when shopping malls, department stores and even small-scale stores have their highest sales. Aside from the extra compensations and bonuses employees receive this time of the year, people just love to shop during this season.

3. Grooming mood. People love to pamper themselves especially this Season. One reason could be because they wanted to look at the best when they meet their friends and families if they go on vacation.

4. Reunion mood. It is also the perfect season for high school classmates to have their reunion. It comes with different moods like vacation and party moods. People want to squeeze in their schedules in one occasion.

5. Creative mind mood. From decorating to gift-wrapping to making different Christmas stuffs, people sometimes don’t notice they are really creative. Too bad their creativeness fully blooms only once a year and only in one particular month.

6. Planning and reflecting mood. It is the time when we hear of New Year’s resolution, which is a result of one’s reflection of his/her life the whole year and what could be done better in the future. This is the time when the demand for notebook planners is on its peak. I remember buying a planner every December and seeing it almost empty the next whole year.

7. Party mood. Regardless of lack of sleep, I see people partying almost every day as if there is no tomorrow. Disco bars seem to be always jam-packed whole night until morning during the season.

8. Busy mood. At home and even in the office, I see people rushing to finish what they’re doing. Some studies also said that this is the time of the year when every employee is most efficient.

9. Finally, this is it mood. End of the year, everyone would think it is also the end of all their burdens.

10. Something new mood. After seeing the hardships that happened somewhere in the past months, people would hope that the new coming year is a better year.

Every year people make resolutions to stop doing things like smoking or drinking.  Others vow to exercise more and eat less.  And many people promise to fix certain parts of their lives they are not happy with.  For some their resolution is simply a wish list, while for others it is a goal they plan on reaching.  

Thankfully for me I do not smoke and barely ever drink alcohol.  I do however like my “junk food” and don’t get enough exercise so if I do make a resolution it will probably be to take better care of myself.  What about you? Is there something in your life you want to change for the better?  What would you like to see different in your life happening in the new year?  What’s your New Years Resolution?

- Loose Weight? 
- Get in shape? 
- Quit Smoking? 
- Spend more time with the family? 
- Get your finances in order? 
- Get a better job? 

Whatever it is, you can make it happen. All you need is a plan. You need to identify your goals, create your plan and execute it. 

Identify Your Goals 

What are your goals? You should have a specific goal. If your goal is to lose weight, do you have a specific number in mind? Do you want to loose 10 pounds? 20 pounds? Or do you want to fit into size eight clothes? If you want to spend more time with family, what would that look like? “Date Night” every week? Lunch with Mom once a month? 

Identify what your goals are and write them down. Be as specific as possible; what is your goal and when are you going to achieve it (set a date)? Make sure your goals are reasonable and achievable. There is no use in setting goals that you know you will not follow through on. 

Create A Plan 

How are you going to accomplish your goal? What are you going to do and when? 

Your plan should include specific benchmarks so that you can measure progress and stay on track. Just like your overall goal, your benchmarks should be measurable and realistic. Are you going to lose five pounds/month? Get to the gym three days a week? 

Start with small steps that you can easily accomplish. As you accomplish your early goals, the momentum will build so that it is easier to complete tougher steps late on. As you complete each step, acknowledge your progress and reward yourself with something that isn’t going to detract from your overall goals. If your goal is to lose weight, don’t reward yourself with a candy bar for losing five pounds. Treat yourself to a movie or a new pair of shoes instead. If you don’t succeed in completing one of these steps, don’t give up; stay flexible and committed to achieving your ultimate goal. 

How are you going to achieve your goals? Are you going to join a gym or build one in your home with a Bowflex system? Start a Weight loss program like Weight Watchers or Nutrisystem? Identify all of the support systems that you will need. 

Execute Your Plan 

Start NOW! Don’t procrastinate. 

Get others involved. If you want to lose weight, find a work-out buddy or go start hiking with a friend. You will have someone to keep you motivated and you will enjoy spending the time together. Or have someone hold you accountable. If your friends know you are trying to lose weight, they help you to eat healthier with a little encouragement, or they may just give you the evil eye the next time try and order that burger instead of a salad. 

Just telling someone else what your goals are will also make the more real. If you just keep it to yourself, you can always change your mind and it never existed, but once someone else knows about it, it is real. 

Stay positive and flexible, but keep your eye on the big picture. You set the goal, it’s your plan, your life. Keep working toward on the big picture. 

Remember, having a New Year’s Resolution without having a plan to accomplish it is just making a wish. 

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