Anyway, we all make New Year’s resolutions whether its to loose weight or eat healthier or learn something new, but basically everybody I know breaks these by mid January and by March they are totally forgotten!

A few years ago I decided that instead of New Year’s resolutions I would do a New Month’s Resolution, which is easier as it breaks it down and is easier to stick to.But this year I do have a New Year’s Resolution: To pass my driving test before I turn 20 in October. I decided that i would never motivate myself to do it if i hadn’t passed it by 20 so I really need to get my skates on, 10 months will fly by I’m sure.

But here’s a list of other things I really want to do this year

• Tone up
  Not loose weight, but to tone up my thighs, tummy and bum.
• Eat Healthier
  Well this will be easier now that I’ve decided to try and stick to a Vegitarian Diet i guess.
• Keep My room tidy
  I may be in my last year of being a teenager but my room is still as much of a state as it was when i was 13 and I’ve had enough!
• Be nicer to my sister
  The way I see it if I’m nice to her, she’ll be nice back and that’ll take a load of stress out of my life
• Get a Job
  I am sick of being on Jobseekers! I hate it! So I will do as much as possible to change it.
• Pass my Japanese course
  Pretty much explains itself but I want to pass Stage 1 and proceed to Stage 2!
• Go back to College
  To do what I still don’t know but even if it just gives me something to fall back on then i’ll be happy.

How about you guys? What New Year’s Resolutions have you made?  And have you stuck to them?

Oh, those New Year resolutions….by Monday, you won’t even be able to find parking at the gym due to the all those whose New Year’s resolution was to get into shape. But, what if your resolution was to get a new job or find a greater measure of success in your current one? The good news is that you can do either one of those and you don’t have to fight for parking or pay gym fees!  Here are some New Year’s Resolutions for your career.

·         Revise your resume-This is something you should do at least once a year, whether you are job hunting or not. It’s easy to forget your accomplishments throughout the year and if you end up having to put together a resume quickly, you may not capture everything.

·         Expand your network-Or, even better, help someone find a job or make an important contact. Your professional network can be one of the most valuable assets you have, but it works both ways. If you want resources, BE a resource as well.

·         Look for a new job-Not because you necessarily want to change positions right now, but because you should have a feel for what is currently available in your field. Make it a point to do this on a regular basis. It can pay off in many different ways.

·         Learn a new skill-Whether in your field or outside of it, choose something you’ve been meaning to learn about and read a book, take a class, or search for online resources. It’s always a good idea to be well-rounded and knowledgeable, and acquiring new skills makes you even more valuable to your company.

·         Be a mentor. Even if you’re in your first job out of school, you can help someone else get to where you are.  Coach and guide someone else to success

·         Post a copy of your objectives where you’ll see them. It’s easy to set a ton of goals in the beginning of the year, and then promptly forget about them as the year rolls on.  If you look at them regularly, you can be sure you’re meeting or exceeding them. Post them on colored paper at your desk, or in a spreadsheet on your desktop-anywhere where they will frequently catch your eye.

By putting in a few minutes today, you can improve your chances of success whether in your current job, or in finding a new one. Happy New Year!

Lose Weight

     Need I say more? America’s favorite resolution because close to 1/3rd of all Americans are classified as obese. Obesity depends on your body mass index (BMI). This value is calculated based on your height and weight. A BMI of 25.4 and above is considered obese. The key thing about losing weight is to realize that good nutrition along with exersise helps reduce your BMI. You can’t just exercise and eat junk food all day long and expect to lose weight. Similarly, just eating less without any exercise will also not help.

Stop Smoking

     This resolution is farily self explanitory. But, it is incredibly hard to follow throught. This is because not only does smoking relieve some stress, but it also affects a person psychologically. Pure “will” to quit smoking doesn’t work because there are plenty of environmental stimuli that trigger your mind into craving a cigarette. Therefore, changing psychological associations with environment, with reduced nicotine chewing gums or nicotine patches helps reduce smoking. The key is to reduce smoking overtime, not just quit once and for all. You may face tremendous relapse.

Enjoy Life One Moment at A Time

     Whatever that means… There are guru’s who argue that we don’t live enough “in the moment.” In today’s world of efficiency, everyone seems to spend all their time planning for the future, and not really take the time to enjoy their current accomplishments or reflect on the past. A way to accomplish this resolution is to write down all your accomplishments and post them up on your wall. Also starting a journal (personal diary) or a blog where you occasionally write your thoughts and accomplishements will help you live in the “moment” more.

Help others more

     As Ali G. may say “Respect!” This resolution takes many forms such as helping kids in Africa by symbolically adopting a child or an animal. The symbolic adoption takes the form of having a pen-pal in a developing country. Adopting an animal involves donating money to an organization that helps protect endangered species such as Polar Bears. In order to help others more, one should consider not just donating money but also one’s time. Frankly, being directly involved in a cause that you feel passionate about is more rewarding than just donating money.

Reduce Stress

     May I suggest Yoga or Pilates? Kicking the habit of drinking coffee and reducing time spent in front of a screen (TV or Computer) also helps. Some people reduce their stress by joining a social club or taking a relaxing vacation. Others may adopt a dog and taking it for walks helps too. The key is to try a combination of activities and vacation.

Become Smarter

     Read, read, and read some more! Joining your local book club may help. Also, there are several excellent sources to continue your education. Local community colleges provide inexpensive classes that help you develop a hobby or a trade skill. Additionally, online lectures offered by top-ranked colleges, such as MIT, Yale, and Harvard, offering courses in subjects variying from Literature to all types of Sciences will help you in the endeavor to enrich your mind.

Stop Procrastinating

     Procrastination is more a perception than a reality. Often times we over comit ourselves and our mind is in a constant struggle to try to relax versus get things accomplished, neither of which occur. But there is certainly no need to get a psychologist to analyze you or go to therapy. Just realize that in your free time you will only be accomplish a few key goals. And yes, relxation should also be a goal. So, try to reduce your expectations in terms of goals. But, not so low that you don’t get anything accomplished.

Learn Chinese (or some other language)

Nice. This goes well along with becoming smarter. Learning a new language is surprisingly easy in today’s world of technology. There are several websites that offer free drills and exercises. But it is exceptionally difficult to master another language to the level of somone who is native to that language. The goal should be to reach a level of proficiency that allows you to think in “terms” of the language. This occurs when you don’t look to translating every word in your own language, but you start thinking in your newly acquired language.

Save Money

Wise Decision especially in this economy. Try to look for services you no longer need, or alternative for those services that you can obtain for less money. Utilities such as telephones are key money savers. For example, on your cell phone you may have purchased a data plan that you rarely use to it’s full capacity (the unlimited plan)! Similarly, you may have subscriptions to services such as home alarm systems that you don’t really need. The lesson is simple, try to figure out what you absolutely need, and what you really don’t need. Moreover, if you realize that you made a mistake in cancelling a service that you really needed, then you can always sign up for it again.

Keep Things Simple

See “Save Money”. Also, you may resolve to this if you are coming from a long and complicated relationship that ended badly. Other reasons to want to keep things simple is if you are unable to keep track of all your responsibilites at work, or manage your finances, or are not able to handle all your commitments. In order to keep things simple for yourself, you simply have to balance your expectations, strengths, and weaknesses. Start with a list of all your strengths and weaknesses. You shouldn’t really have any trouble managing your strengths. But in improving your weaknesses, make sure your expectations are realistic. For example, if time management is a weakness, don’t expect formulating a tight plan for tracking every hour of every day to work in terms of time management. However, having daily goals for accomplishing tasks, and setting reasonable deadlines for completing projects, assignments, or goals, is a more realistic way to manage time.

Find Unconditional Love

Isn’t that a condition? As humans, we will always have flaws, but don’t give up hope in looking for true love. Gone are the days when you only had access to a few people for relationships. With the advent of the internet and internet dating sites, your range has greatly expanded in finding your perfect. To many, the internet doesn’t seem like the perfect match-maker, however, think of these sites as a place to see what’s out there. In other words, it’s there for browsing. You don’t have to comit to anything.

Not Make a New Years Resolution

My Favorite! A lot of times things are going very well. There are time when we need detailed plans of actions, but for the most part things are farily good. Therefore, you can continue doing what you are doing for the next year and allow yourself to wait until you really need to change things. In fact, you may want to consider making a mid-year resolution, or a quarterly resolution. An entire year to accomplish something has no “teeth” to it. You need to be consistent in re-evaluating your goals, and making the judgement as to whether you are on track. Therefore, a new-year resolution couple with a mid-year resolution is better!

• Losing weight. This is one of the most popular things that people wish to do in the New Year. Unforunately, the two things that you have to do in order to lose weight (diet and exercise) are very difficult at this time of the year. After Christmas, there is often still an awful lot of bad food left in the house, which just means that there is an awful lot of temptation there for you which you might not have anticipated. In addition to this, is everybody in your family is still eating bad food, the temptation can be far too close to you for you to possibly resist. The main thing that you have to worry about with regards to exercise is the weather. In January, which can be the coldest month of the year, there is very little motivation to go outside and actually do some exercise. This is why not many people manage to lose weight in the new year.
• Save money. This is the second most popular resolution that people make, but it never really works out for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that there is usually a rather large credit card bill after Christmas, which will need to be paid. Because of this, you realise that you will need to cut back for a couple of months before you can even pay this off, and by the time you have paid it off you will probably have forgotten about the fact that you were supposed to be saving money in the first place. Secondly, the tempation of the sales is huge. If you go shopping, you might find that you’re buying things which you would never even have considered in the past just because they look cheaper.
• Get a new hobby. New Year is a very bad time to be thinking about getting a new hobby simply because everybody else is doing just the same. Classes will be busy and overcrowded, and this means that you will be put off carrying on. You’d be much better starting later on in the year when things are at least a little bit quieter. 

1) Resolve to be more physically active. Whether it is swimming, hiking, walking, or running, getting out and doing something physically is good for the body and soul. I’m not talking about going to a gym. I’m talking about getting out in the fresh air. Go with your family, friends, or by yourself. Just do it. You will feel better and age more gracefully.

2) Resolve to unplug. We live in a society that is becoming increasingly dependent on technology. It seems we always have some new device in our hands or at our ears. We have a thousand ways to learn, but are we smarter? We have a thousand ways to communicate, but are we more connected? Technology may make our lives easier, but sometimes it’s good to just get away. Go on vacation and leave the cell phone behind, ignore the internet and television, and enjoy old fashioned joys. Dust off that old board gave. Make something with your hands. Go to the park. Whatever you do, just don’t worry about making it your facebook status.

3) Resolve to save some money. Spending money on something you want, but don’t need may feel good at the time, but when you find yourself short at the end of the month it won’t feel so good. Saving your “extra” money will feel really good when you do it, and you will only feel better as you watch your savings grow. Not only will you have money saved up for emergencies, but you will be able to treat yourself to something a little better in the future.

4) Resolve to do at least one positive thing for someone every. You will feel good. They will feels good, and you may inspire them to do the same. Good deeds can be contagious, and that is one thing you shouldn’t mind catching. The key here is to not expect anything in return.

5) Resolve to try the one thing you’ve always wanted to do. I think this is the best one, so I saved it for last. Now I’m not telling you to do this because the world is going to end (hehehee!). I’m saying it because 2012 will be as good a time as any. As the old saying goes: “There’s no time like the present”. Want to learn a language then take a class. Want to sky dive then go try it. Want to start a business then please, please, pretty please do it because our economy needs it. Whatever it is, if you don’t do it you’ll only have regrets down the line.              

Well, it’s time to say goodbye to another year, and welcome to another year. Every year millions of people go through the ritual of making mental lists, or writing lists, about what in their life they want to see changed, and change it themselves. They call it resolutions, but actually it should be just called a resolution. Why? Well, because subconsciously one gets the idea that they resolve not to change. It’s a futile attempt to change one’s makeup.

The world has gone nuts over this obsession of making New Year’s resolutions. They resolve to lose weight, be a nicer person, be more compassionate, drop bad habits, and the list goes on, and on, and on,until they forget what was on the list. They may go a day, a month, maybe a year before they realize that the resolutions are useless for this year, they’ll put it off for the next year. They cite reasons of being too busy as the most common culprit for not keeping the resolutions. Now correct me if I’m wrong, but if people want more time to relax, why don’t they turn resolutions into an occupation?   Keeping becomes way too work.

People are really strange. You don’t see animals making resolutions, like, vowing not to chase the neighbor’s cat, or bringing cheese to a resident mouse. People are the only species on this green earth that put themselves through all this agony. Except me, of course. I resolve not to make any resolutions and critically watch others to see if they succeed. Wait a minute, I just made a New Years resolution. Well it must be official, it’s impossible to keep resolutions, and impossible to keep from making them.

But we do expect the new year to bring changes, like, peace on earth. The world has never changed it’s position on life since it’s creation. And it never will, until it is time. You see, man is a free spirit, and if he resolves to change the world, he may accomplish very little, if any. God has a whole plan set up for this life, and if we resolve to go in a different direction, then He will step in and change it Himself. Every new year brings us closer to that main event we call Jesus’ Return, and it is that event that will make all resolutions a mute point. God’s resolution is what really counts in this life, and it will be the only resolution to succeed. We can sing Aulde Lang Syne until the cows come home, but when we make THE resolution that would change our lives, then it goes from a resolution to a gradual change. Once we make up our minds to put God first in our lives and put away our sinful nature, then our New Year’s resolution may stick. You will be happy, God will be happy.

In almost every church in this area, people will be praying, some may hold candlelight services, hoping to bring in year of peace, healing, praying for lost souls, hoping for God’s return to earth. We have seen what happens when people predict the end of the world; what will happen when we resolve to let God says it’s time to end things as we know it? I wish everyone a happy and blessed new year, not only filled with peace and prosperity outwardly, but peace and prosperity in your heart. May 2012 bring new beginnings for all of us.

Ah, resolutions. Those potentially nasty, forgotten by February, promises you make to yourself, your life and the world to be a better person and this world a better place. We always start off just like the New Year, full of promise, full of hope and eager to make some changes. We have the best intentions but then life catches up with us or we find we’ve inadvertently bitten off more than we could chew and now we drop our resolutions like a stick of butter, whoops! Well here are some sure fire steps to help keep you motivated to do whatever your resolution may be and how to drop the ones that aren’t worth keeping, guilt free. 

First things first: Write down your goals and be reasonable. Most of us start off so motivated and filled with the promise of a new year that we over-promise ourselves. We simply stretch ourselves too thin. So, if your goal is to lose weight, become a better parent/mate/child/employee and to save money, start by writing those three things down. Keep this list somewhere that you can look on it often to remind you of what your goals are and the reasons why.  Remember: there are only 24 hours in every day, 7 days in a week and 365 days in a year. No exceptions and no pause buttons. So if you find that after you write down your goals that you have a list down to the ground, maybe it’s time to cut yourself some slack, and your list down a few items.

Next: Give yourself a reasonable time line. In our society where everything is meant to be fast and/or instant, sometimes it’s hard for us to understand that not everything happens that quickly. If your goal is to lose 100 pounds, or 50 or even 25, set yourself a realistic time line. Even under the best diet and exercise plan, you cannot expect to lose a significant amount of weight overnight, or even within a month. Most physicians will recommend a one pound weight loss per week. Sometimes two under stricter programs. If we gave ourself the one pound rule, that’s four pounds a month and 52 pounds in a year. To some people that may seem too long. Almost two years to lose 100 pounds?! But that’s not only realistic, it’s doable. If your goal is to brush your teeth every day, give yourself time to make that a habit and don’t expect it to be second nature within the first week. Change takes time. 

Finally: Take baby steps. When taking on a big project at work or in the home, it is highly advantageous to break things down into small, easy to accomplish steps. If your goal is to organize your home, start off with your time line. If you want it done within a month, use this step to break it down further. Do the kitchen first, then the living room, then the kid’s room, then yours and finally, that pesky garage. After you have your initial game plan, feel free to break that down further. Give yourself so many days to do the kitchen, with set tasks to be accomplished daily. For example: Monday- Wipe down all cabinets inside and out and counter-tops. Tuesday- Clean out the refrigerator, including the coils and condense all recipes. Wednesday- Deep clean the oven and mop the floors. Thursday- Relax. Friday: Start the living room. By taking these smaller and simpler steps toward your goal, you are helping yourself avoid becoming overwhelmed and leaving a project half done or poorly done and having to return to it later. Do it right the first time and you will be happy with the results.

The best resolutions are the ones you achieve so make this the year that you give yourself reasonable resolutions. Make them your own. If you’re a visual person, set yourself up with visual cues that you are on track. Every day that you work out, brush your teeth, say your prayers, volunteer or stay on your diet, give yourself a smiley face sticker. If you’re a person who has to see results immediately, make your baby steps a check list. As you finish each small task, check it off. Seeing those tally marks add up and that to-do list get shorter and shorter just might be the drive you need to see this resolution through.

As a final thought, if you are following these steps and find that life keeps throwing you curve ball after curve ball and you are unable or unwilling to continue, don’t beat yourself up. Sometimes, things just can’t get done in the time frame we would like them too. Remember that you can’t control every situation and sometimes you just need to let things go. Don’t sacrifice time with your loved ones, quality time taking care of yourself and important events for the sake of a resolution.  So chin up, deep breath, make those lists, set your time frame and take those baby steps. If all else fails, there’s always next year. 

I know there are a lot of other resolution type messages being posted by others but I believe that for my own well being it will be valuable to publish my goals publicly and see if this helps with reaching the goals. This is the principle of starting www.thewhinestage.com blog in the first place, my own personal growth.

So with further ado, I present my resolutions for 2012. Please check in to www.thewhinestage.com over the course of the year and see how well (or not) I have made progress.

1. HEALTH:
   I’m in my 40’s now and I have realized I’m not 20 any longer. The hang over in the morning after is one very true telling point. The doctor’s orders are another. In 2012 I need to get healthier. If I was writing this in my 20’s I would be instead listing the 100 greatest hamburger restaurants in Ontario, Canada. Of this I am an expert but I do need to cut out the fast food and lose weight.

I also need to cut down on the booze. So says the doctor anyway. Apparently the years of enjoying drinks has caught up to my body. So, on to the list of what not to do goes – the consumption enjoying drinks. Can’t say for sure that I’m ready to cut it out completely yet so I’ll go with cutting down and see where I go.

More exercise is the other thing on which I need to focus for 2012. My beautiful bride and I spent some pretty good cash on a new elipticil exercise machine for our house. I am more than aware of the typical response to buying home exercise equipment but I am very focused on making sure that it doesn’t become an expensive clothes hanger. My bride is a regular visitor to her gym and enjoys how she feels after. I enjoy the fact that she looks great. Theoretically, my goal of losing weight and being more fit will help get me more activity in the bedroom after the kids are asleep. I want her to look at me like I’m Brad Pitt covered in rich chocolate and unlimited credit cards. I’ll let you know how that works for me.

1. Reduce Personal Debt
   This will be the year of saving and of reducing debt. My bride and I are planning a trip to Europe this summer and we need to start saving now. In future posts I will share my methods of saving and the success rate. I will also share the web sites I visit regularly to gain more financial advice. There really are some great sites out there and I have gained a lot of knowledge over the past 6 months regarding personal finances. I will give kudo’s to these sites in the future.
2. Professional Designation
   I work in the Project Management industry but I have not yet tried to get my Project Management Designation (PMP). This is mostly due to laziness but is also due to the very expensive costs of the training programs that are advertised for exam preparation. I just can not justify spending over $1,000 for a training program for a business in which I have worked for 15 plus years. I should mention that I am self employed and therefore do not have an employer who will pay for training and exam costs so I am looking for less expensive ways to meet this goal. Instead, I am now looking to purchase the preparation material myself and start my own study routine. Perhaps this is foolish and a little bit cocky but I will give it my best shot.

Does anyone else have any advice?

1. Bagpipes
   That’s right, I want to learn how to play the bag pipes in 2012. My family purchased a starter kit for me a year ago but I haven’t dedicated any time to learning. My goal is to learn the pipes and stand in my back yard in the middle of the night playing Amazing Grace. My neighbours will love it J. I also think it would be very cool to join a band of other pipers and play in a group or marching band. All of these very cool ideas pretty much add risk to my goal number 1 of getting healthier as I would assume that the Scottish pipes and the enjoyment of a few drinks could potentially be closely linked. Will have to make sure I balance the 2.

Does anyone out there know of a bagpiper teacher in the Greater Toronto Area who could help get me started on this goal?

4 very simple goals for 2012 but I believe each are within reach. Please visit www.thewhinestage.com over the year and I will let you know how well these goals are coming. I will update the very steps of planning the goals, implementing the goals and finally enjoying the success in later posts

Happy New Year to all and I wish you a very successful and healthy 2012!

(Happy New Year, image from Google Search)

Write daily. Write faster.

I was a little bit moody in 2011. There were days I didn’t key in a word. For productive days, I could write more than 500 words, but seldom exceed 1000 words per day. Awfully slow, isn’t it? The 2012 plan is to write daily with more words. The new daily target is 700 words for the 1st half year and 1000 words for the 2nd half year.

Write better.

Readers need interesting contents and excellent writing styles. Quality is the key to success and no doubt I have a long way to go. Published over 100 articles for different topics in 2011, my writing was particularly terrible when the topic was an unfamiliar one. Also, I was weak in spotting my own mistakes. I have to work harder to eliminate these two major frailties and enhance the overall quality in 2012.

Read more.

Reading opens one’s mind and awakes me to pursue the supreme quality other fellow writers have demonstrated. I started reading late. Hence, there are many good books I haven’t read yet. One book per week was no longer satisfactory enough to catch up with the ever-extending book list. I plan to squeeze more time for reading and finish one and half book per week in 2012.

Kick shyness and fear.

Have you ever written something and dared not showing to others? This circumstance is OK for drafts, but it is not supposed to happen for finished works. Lack of confidence is annoying. The shyness to show up and the fear to receive no or negative comment yielded slow progress. Something must be done to cope with this nasty trait. I hope to introduce more aggressive rewrite and self-editing to eliminate shyness and fear in the coming year.

Say no to procrastination.

Though I wrote an article, How to Cope with Procrastination, procrastination never stopped casting his evil spells over me. It affected not only my writing, but also publishing and reading as well. Obviously I have to beat or even “kill” this devil with greater determination and persistent efforts to increase productivity in 2012.

Live up to my dreams.

I was always down when people said to me, “You got no talent in writing.” Up to present I have the face to secure my dreams from the blows. However, dreams drifted away further bit by bit indeed. I plan to nail down my dreams by giving all drafts tight polishes and have more publications in 2012. There will be many things to do and learn in the coming year.

Shame to say, aging does not make me wiser to have a better time management. Time seems passing faster than ever and 2012 will be a busy year to me. What about you? Welcome to leave a message sharing your New Year’s resolutions. Let’s hope everyone is productive and enjoys a fruitful year with the minimum regrets. I wish you have a happy and prosperous New Year.

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Other writing related articles you may be interested in reading:

Self-talk to Exterminate Excuses for Not Writing

SOS Save Me From Failed Writing Please