Every year people all over the world make resolutions for the new year. 

Probably the biggest New Year’s resolution is to lose weight. But there are many more:

Quit smoking

Quit drinking

Save money

Take a vacation

Give up Facebook

Be nicer

…and the list goes on…

BUT

…how many of these New Year’s resolutions do we really follow through on? How many times have we made our New Year’s resolutions without realizing that we have set ourselves up to fail?

On a side note and only if you are totally bored with this and wish to see some serious HOTNESS – Click the above pic or CLICK RIGHT HERE for 101 HOTTIES! (I admit, I may have an addiction to looking at hotties, seriously!)

…okay now, what was I saying? Oh yah, how many times have we failed our New Year’s resolutions?

More times than any of us wish to remember, quite honestly.

We can avoid all that by simply making only one New Year’s Resolution this year. 

The Only New Year’s Resolution You Need for 2012

Repeat after me:

My only resolution for 2012 is to not make any other New Year’s resolutions.

(say it again if needed for positive and complete affirmation)

That’s it. That’s the plan for 2012. Start the year off right by making only this one resolution and you cannot fail. 

This is the truth and the Truth is Now!

Need More Truth?

Yes, I wrote this piece – tongue in cheek – and I do have plans for several of those items on my (non) resolution list. However, I’m not going to make them New Year’s resolutions. My follow through ratio in that regard is just plain awful. 

So I promise to work at all those and more, daily, throughout the year – 2012 – and if I don’t give up Facebook completely or lose every pesky pound, at least I will have progressed with something – I did not make any of them a New Year’s resolution. 

Need Even MORE Truth? Of Course You Do!

5 Reasons You are Fat – Is this YOUR New Year’s Resolution?

Eat More, Weigh Less

5 Ways to Stay Healthy for the Holidays – and All Year Too!

Need Some HOT Truth? Who Doesn’t?

5 Hot Chicks Who Annoy You

Poppy Montgomery – Hot or Not?

And Your Ideal Woman Is…?

Oh, and please do have yourselves a Happy, Healthy, Prosperous New Year! 

1- MAINTAIN HEALTHY WEIGHT

The best way to keep this resolution? Start NOW! If it’s the middle of December, and you’re thinking about weight loss-then more than likely you’ve been thinking about losing weight all year long. So why weight (pun intended) until January 1st to begin what should be considered a lifelong achievement anyway? It’s really easy. Don’t stand in front of the holiday trough (read: buffet table) and continue to graze. Chances are, if you put just a little of what you really like on your plate, you won’t be tempted to go back for thirds and fourths.

Have you ever had a taste for chocolate, and realized that just one Hershey’s kiss would satisfy your craving as opposed to that Super Snickers bar? Well, the same thing applies to food. Get a taste. Then go for a walk. Apply this behavior to your everyday eating habits, and you’ll find that you need less food to satisfy your cravings. I’m not going to mention any fad diets, or exercise regimes here. Common sense will dictate that if you take in more calories than you burn, you’re going to gain weight. So balance it out, and start NOW.

2- PAY OFF DEBT

Who wants to have a bucket-load of debt? I never understood why people made this particular item a “resolution.” Why should New Year’s Eve be the only time that people take a hard look at the debt they’re accumulating? If this is one of the major things on your list of New Year’s Resolutions, then read on. The first thing you’ll want to do is sit down and make a list of all the debts you have. This means EVERYTHING, even your monthly bills. Write down everything you can think of that you spend money on every month. Then write down your monthly pay. It will only take a little bit of math to determine how much you can afford to pay to reduce bills like credit cards, etc.

The trick is to pay these things ON TIME so that late fees and interest do not accumulate. Furthermore, it’s a good idea to pay a little more than what is owed. This goes for monthly expenses too. For example, if your monthly power bill is $75, then pay $80 for about 3 months straight if you can. It sounds crazy. But reducing the amount of monthly bills can help you in times when you have unexpected emergencies. Furthermore, if ever you need more time to pay a monthly bill; your pristine payment history will make it easier for the power company to work with you. Apply this logic to other bills, and you’ll be surprised at how much LESS money you’re kicking out. Plus, you’ll see a reduction in your overall debt. It may sound easy. But we all know that major will power is a huge catalyst in debt reduction.

3- QUIT SMOKING

If you’re still sucking down Marlboros, Kools, Newports, or Camels-and you don’t know how sickening those little sticks are by now-then you must have been living in the dark ages. Quite frankly, there are still tons of smokers out there who are perfectly ok with stinking up their cars, clothes, hair and fingers with these nasty little things. Cigarettes are bad. We all know that. Is a New Year’s Resolution to stop smoking going to really help? Probably not. You know why? Because on New Year’s Eve, you’re going to have a few glasses of bubbly, and goodness knows what else. Most drinkers love to cap off the buzz by lighting up.

So, with that in mind-you’re going to have to do something about it right away. Do not wait until January 2nd to throw out your pack of cigarettes cold turkey. If you know you have the will power, then Godspeed. But most people, especially those who have been smoking for years, are going to need a little help. That means you’ll have to actively seek out a plan for ditching the cancer sticks. Try the Nicotine patch. Get one NOW, so that you can become accustomed to not smoking as much…and then not smoking at all. Or seek out a hypnotherapist. By the time New Year’s Eve rolls around, you may already be halfway through with your resolution. The point though, is to act soon.

There are many more New Years’ Resolutions that people tend to “overlook” by Valentine’s Day. I have found that the best way to keep the resolutions is to not make them in the first place. In other words, if you know that you need to stop smoking, lose weight, and save money. Then why should the urgency be placed at the beginning of the year as opposed to any other time? By the time you realize that you need to make a resolution, you should already be taking the steps to keep it. By the time New Year’s rolls around, you’ll be proud to tell people that you’re in keeping with the promises that you’ve made to yourself. Good luck!

Cover of Smoking (Health Issues)

Isn’t this a compelling reason not to smoke cigarettes? Not only is this bad habit detrimental to your health, you will find that in future when you want to work in the health industry as a nurse or a janitor in a hospital, you will be turned down.

According to these employers, smokers put a strain on health cost and employers have to foot the bill for medical costs related to health issues that are caused by cigarette smoking. Learn about the four bad habits that can also kill you.

Hospitals in Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas have already stopped employing smokers and hospitals from other states are considering doing the same.

Many have voiced their disagreement with this policy of discriminating people from being employed for something that is legal and a lifestyle choice. Even anti-tobacco groups are not keen with this policy.

These people fear that if employers can infringe on employees’ lifestyle choices like smoking cigarettes, what is to stop them from firing employees on other lifestyle choices that will lead to health problems like eating unhealthy foods, not exercising enough and drinking alcohol?

To some this policy has indeed given them a reason not to smoke cigarettes but to others it’s a discrimination against a lifestyle choice that is by law a legal activity.

15.) Give more to Charity – You don’t have to give $100 dollars of your pay check every month to some charity. You can start small (since economic times are bad). Kroger has $1, $2, & $5 dollar donations to help feed the needy. Every month you go grocery shopping you can buy a shoe box worth of non-pershiable foods and take it to your local food bank, buy a bag of dog food or some toys and take to an animal shelter, buy items that say they will donate money to a cause. Sometimes small things can make the biggest contribution.

14.) Clean out House – Everyone wants more room in their house. I would first start by organizing each room. Also I would give each room a one month span so you have plenty of time to work on it. Make a pile of stuff to keep, throw away, take to goodwill or thrift store, or to sell at yard sale. Buy Bins to place things you want to sell and keep in and make sure your write whats in them on the outside.

13.) Get organized – If you do what I said above you’ll be organized in no time. The key is to be able to let go of things. Maybe theres something you don’t want to throw away but your not sure about giving it away either. If your not using it then there is someone out there who would love to. 

12.) Learn something new – Take a course every semester at a college, go back to school part time, or just read a book on how to do something. You might learn how to knit, hunt, fish, change your car’s oil, or how to speak spanish. Everything deserves a try at least once. 

11.) Eat better – You can’t stay a picky eater forever. Venture out and try new foods. Maybe your eating with friends and order the same thing as always, at least ask to take a bite of your friend’s dishes to see if you might like it. Also try looking for free sites to help watch your weight and tell you what to eat. You can also try jenny craigs diet or weight watchers.

10.) Quit Drinking – To do this your going to need as much emotional support as you can get and a hobby. Find something you like to do (it must be something you Like) and whenever you start craving a drink start doing that fun hobby or call family and talk to them while you do it. Helps take your mind of it for awhile. Also try finding support groups to join online or offline. Write in a journal too that way you can keep up with how many times you crave it and watch as it slowly disappears. 

9.) Spend More time with family & friends – Make once a week a time for family or friends and switch it up every week. Make one night one week a friend night and the next week a family night. Try to still keep time for yourself too though. 

8.) Volunteer More – You don’t have to make every waking moment a time to volunteer, even though it is most welcome, start small. Spend a few hours at your local humane society by petting dogs, walking them, or giving them baths. You could also go to your local food bank and help stock shelves, take in donations, and help give items out. Nursing homes need people to help keep the elderly entertained. Even sitting with an elderly person just talking is volunteering. 

7.) Travel More – You don’t have to take big, lavish, and expensive trips. Take many small ones during the year to towns or major cities close by. You’ll realize more about the area you live around then you would have thought. Save that big huge trip for a really special time to get away.

6.) Find a Soul Mate – when your looking it seems like you’ll never find that one. You can’t go looking for love. Of course you can go to dating sites and try them just be careful. By the way don’t use Craigslist to find your soul mate. That’s like looking for them in a club or bar only a rare few have found love in a club.

5.) Quit Smoking – Same info as above for quit drinking. Also seek professional services if all other options have failed. 

4.) Get out of Debt – Talk to credit companies and see if they will help you out any on lowering payments per month or interest. It never hurts to ask. Talk to lawyers about bankruptcy. Ask family and friends what they have done to stay out of debt. Also try reading books about debt they’ll have plenty of info about what you should do or try.

3.) Make more money – You can have yardsales throughout the year, find a batter job, take another job and do multiple jobs, find a hobby that you can sell what you make, ask for overtime, or write articles for Triond.com

2.) Save Money – saving money doesn’t have to be hard. Take a small amount of your check each week or month and put into your savings. Depending on your job I would say for someone who makes about $500 a week put $50 in your savings account and then take $25 dollars and put into a safe at home. You can buy a small safe at Wal-Mart.

and the number one New Year’s resolution is………

1.) Lose Weight – Buy a Wii and play Wii fit, walk your dog more, if you have kids take your kids walking, buy a bike and ride it before or after work, buy small weights and while you watch t.v. lift weights, try weight watchers or join a gym, invest in a trainer at the gym so you have someone who pushes you, find a friend who is serious about losing weight and work out with them. Watch how much you eat. Buy small plates and only fill those up once and eat and drink LOTS of water before, during, and after your meals to help you feel full. 

I hope all these suggestions help you to keep your resolutions. Remember don’t over do your resolution you don’t want to stress yourself out and lose sight of your goal.

1. Family – many North Americans have vowed to spend more time with their loved ones in 2011, so this is a good year to start making more plans with your family and appreciating each other more.  Family is something that does not last forever, so the more time you spend with them the more wonderful memories you will have.

2. Fitness – 2011 may be a good time to start getting more exercise done.  It is crucial for everyone to have first of all good health, and fitness is something to pay good attention to.  So the first step is to maybe become a member of a fitness centre and start from there.

3. Quit smoking – smoking is a bad habit and everyone is aware of that, but some just cannot quit.  See this new year as a deadline and prepare yourself to be smoke free starting on January 1st.  By having an actual deadline and respecting it, you will not only quit a bad habit but also accomplish one of your goals.

4. Get out of debt – after the economic meltdown of 2008, some are still experiencing financial difficulties.  Therefore, you may want to start brainstorming some ideas about how to get out of debt in 2011. 

5. Enjoy life more – many people find themselves too busy with their demanding works or other things and do not fully enjoy life.  It is good that every once in a while you take a moment and relax, play a game, watch a movie, read a book, or take a walk – do something that you really enjoy, and that way you will feel less stressed.

6. Get organized- organizing can be a very reasonable goal for 2011. If you organize your lifestyle, time and schedule, you will experience less stress and enjoy your life more.

Image via Wikipedia

I was so lucky (in a very weird sense of the word lucky) though because the worse the situation became the easier it became to blame it all on nicotine and smoking cigarettes, also known as nicotine delivery systems. I resented that a whole industry had been in clover for years on the back of people like me. I was also lucky because I had the space in which I could give up smoking.

Image via Wikipedia The kind face of Barack Obama

How the hell could Obama give up smoking? He was not going to have any space plus he was going to face the backlash of the Sarah Palin idiots and the Republicans. Moreover he was going to feel responsible for not alleviating people’s suffering quick enough because of the spiteful opposition he was having to deal with or attempt to. If I was Obama there was no way I could give up smoking with that much pressure and that lack of space. There’s no way I could begrudge him a cigarette.

            Hypnosis is almost always misunderstood by the average person. Hypnosis is a natural occurrence, you are not unconscious during hypnosis, and you still have full control over your decisions. Have you ever been watching TV and zoned out everything and focused everything on what you were watching? Have you ever driven home from work or school and realized you reached your destination in seemingly no time? These are examples of natural occurring hypnotic states. You still have control, but the subconscious just takes over for you.

            Hypnosis and self hypnosis lets you enter a state of heightened suggestibility. This lets you pass your conscious and your mental block, the “critical factor”, to give beneficial suggestions. This does not mean you will accept bad information; your subconscious will not let that happen. For example, if you are trying to quit smoking, you know it would be great for you but, your critical factor tells you it will be hard, depressing, not worth it, when you yourself know it would be. That’s why hypnosis is very helpful. It can overpower that critical factor.

            The list for the advantages of self hypnosis is a long one. If you don’t have the time to go see a hypnotherapist, you have self hypnosis. If you don’t have the money to see a hypnotherapist, you have self hypnosis. If you want to keep your goals and desires to yourself while still getting the benefits of hypnosis, you have self hypnosis. The list goes on and on. Self hypnosis is very simple and gets easier and more effective the more you institute it.

            There is almost no limit to what self hypnosis can do for you. Quit smoking, lose weight, more efficient work outs, better sleep, heal faster, be more confident, have better sex, and so on. The process is so simple it’s a wonder why everyone isn’t doing it. Self hypnosis is a powerful and easy way to improve your life, take advantage of it. Get educated, read a self hypnosis book, or even browse around on the internet to learn a thing or two about self hypnosis. It’s help, it’s free, you can’t ask for to much else.

At the end of the day, when you put your head down on the pillow, what is the only thing there with you?  Those thoughts – all of the day’s events and more, playing in your mind.  If you were in the middle of a desert, not a thing around you, you would rely heavily on your thinking, wouldn’t you?  Waiting in long line-ups, trapped in a stopped subway car, in the second hour of a boring meeting thoughts come to your rescue – or at least they CAN, if you let them.

Since thought is such a constant in your life, you’d better make sure that yours are working for you and not against you.  Instead of running through the bad or worrying things – mistakes, errands, bills, lost loved ones, missed opportunities – run through all of the good things you’ve done and have to look forward to.  Remind yourself of those aspects of who you are and what you want to be, and you’ll find that you fall asleep more easily, feel less anxiety, and even treat other people better, too.

Your Thoughts Are Your True Creation

Sure, society influences us to think in a certain way.  Our parents and peers put ideas into our heads too.  But you and you alone are the editor of what goes through your head.  You can choose to keep or throw out any thought you like.  Why not simply reject messages that intimidate or paralyze you?  “I can’t because…”  “I need to lose weight because…”  “I’m trapped because…” “She’s better than me because…”  Dump them!  They are poisonous, toxic, non-sensical things to tell yourself. 

To use myself as an example, I tell myself that I am enjoying the journey toward the person I want to become.  I tell myself that I am smart and beautiful, talented and generous, smart and – boldly – I even tell myself that I can already see success in my future.  Yes, I do relapse from time to time and guilt over some silly thing or other will creep in.  But you know what?  With practice these intrusions are becoming less and less often, and less and less powerful.

Squeezing Your Size 10 Thoughts into a Size 8 Life

Now that you’ve practiced thinking about yourself and your possibilities in a whole new way, you might start to notice that the people, jobs, habits and things that you have brought into your life start to feel incredibly uncomfortable.  All this thinking has gotten you into a little bit of a jam.  “But wait!”  I hear you protest, “That’s precisely the reason I am reading this article in the first place! I was already uncomfortable and wanted things to change, remember!”

Yes, I remember.  And I also know that you needed to take the necessary first step of changing your mind before you could have changed anything else.  You couldn’t have just gone out and gotten a new job or a new partner and expected that to be any more successful than the situation you are currently in unless you first leveled with yourself about who you really are and what you really wanted.  The old you would have found the old patterns again, and the cycle would have continued.  Now that you get that you can manifest your own positive reality though.. now you are ready to replace what really isn’t working for you.  Or maybe.. just maybe, the attitude shift was all you needed and you don’t want to make any other changes at all. 

Your Size 8 Life friends might not ‘get’ you any more.  Your job might feel a little meaningless.  Your partner might seem difficult all of a sudden.  You have to choose.  Will your thoughts determine your actions, or will your inaction determine your thoughts?  Are you going to keep trying to squeeze your Size 10 Mind into the Size 8 Life?

Putting Thoughts into Action

The most difficult leg of this journey to self-improvement is taking the deep breath, believing in yourself, and allowing your thoughts out of your head and introducing them into the 3-dimensional world.   What are some of the 3-D results of your new mindset?  Well, people who have put their positive thoughts into action have found themselves reporting some of the following:

I quit my job.

I am single again.

I exercise every day.

I am not a smoker anymore.

I volunteer my time.

I decided that happiness was more important than money.

People who do not have strong, positive feelings about themselves and the possibilities for their lives live in fear that they will someday have to make one of those statements. Why?  Look at them again.. these are difficult statements to make.  Difficult because if you make them it means they are true.  And if they are true it means that you’ve actually done or are doing those things.  And if you do those things, they have left the realm of thought and become real events.  If your thoughts have become real events in your life, it means that you’ve manifested your intentions.    For some, that’s too much responsibility, too BIG, too scary.

But not for you.  You know now that you are in control of all of it – the fear, too.  And you’ve overcome it.

Congratulations!  You’ve increased your self-esteem and improved your life, all by just thinking about it.

What is wrong with this kids parents.  Societies fail when we sit and let things like this happen.  The problem with this is you will have some people that think this is cool.  There will be people that want to make a joke out of this kid.  In some neighborhoods this young child will be the cool two year old who smokes cigarettes.  Some will even give him a nickname like Smokey the baby which only will be accepting his behavior.  Things like this shouldn’t be tolerated but it is.  No matter how much we fuss and debate over this topic there is someone somewhere else in the world doing something just as thoughtless as this.

We also have to understand that not every culture is the same as ours we do not know what type of education the child’s parents have or what type of customs are acceptable.  Watching the video you cannot help but notice everyone else seems to see nothing wrong with this behavior.  Although the obvious health reason stand out like a sore thumb and this video infuriates parents and wanna be parents we must not be quick to draw conclusions.  Besides if we feel so ready to see justice done why not go to the parents personally and educate them or take the cigarettes away.  Any takers to truly remedy the situation?

Okay, I’m being dramatic. In all actuality, this is a less deadly situation. It’ll seem an anti-climax now to state that I am, in fact, the last member of my family and group of friends who has managed to stick to their new years resolution. Ashamedly, I’m one of the few who actually made one: Do people really consider themselves above self improvement?… Topic for debate…

According to http://pittsburgh.about.com/od/holidays/tp/resolutions.htm  The top ten new years resolutions are:

1. Spend more time with friends and family.
2. Exercise more.
3. Lose weight.
4. Quit smoking.
5. Take more enjoyment from life.
6. Quit drinking.
7. Get out of debt.
8. Learn something new.
9. Help others.
10. Become more organised in life.

I suspect many people reading this could associate their own resolution/s into one of these categories. It seems giving supposed ‘luxuries’ (fatty foods, smoking, drinking; generally being a bum) are our biggest concerns. In fact, it’s highly probable that many people (perhaps even you) have made that same commitment to yourself before, only to break it after the first week.

Anyway; the fact is, people are giving up on their self-made promises earlier and earlier each year. Are we setting unrealistic goals for ourselves? Is it possible that we are setting ourselves up to fail each and every time to ball drops? Maybe some people just enjoy the idea of being bad.

Then there are the people like us. The people who google’d for help in keeping to resolutions and self-promises in the hope of self preservation. The fact is, if you’ve taken the time to look for advice on keeping to your resolutions, you’re halfway there. The fact that you care enough to take the time to look for (I really wish there was a better word) help, shows that your commitment to yourself and goals is far superior to many others.

I’m fully aware that the previous paragraph was a bit anti-climatic. In fact, it reminds me of The Wizard of Oz, where the ‘wizard’ tells Dorothy  “You’ve had the ability to go home all along“. Quite disappointing.

My advice is to write down your new years resolution on paper, then below write exactly why you’d like to achieve this. Write as many reasons as you can, aim to think of at least three.For example, if your resolution was “I want to quit smoking” your reasons may be:

1. “To save money” (the average smoker spends over $1000 on cigarettes a year)
2. “To have more stamina” (Smokers run out of breath much quicker, as we all know)
3. “To not smell like the exhaust of a bus” (Your goals are all your own, hahaa)

Pin this to your wall, magnetise it to your fridge, slap it on a post-it on your computer, your television, your microwave, your dog or whatever. Anywhere you look at often, anywhere where it will stand out and your mind will consciously HAVE to notice it. Each time you read this, try to visualise how you’ll be different when you follow through on your resolution. Go for far out fantasies if you must: If your goal is to learn guitar then go as far as picturing yourself in a hard-rock band wearing leather trousers and 2 cans of mousse in your hair whilst soloing on top of the world. Anything, if it’ll help you achieve your goals.

My own resolution? Like many, mine is to get fitter, eat healthily, quit smoking and generally live past the age of 50. Sure it’s tough, but the first month is always the hardest… Sod it, I’m going for a cheese-burger.