We all know that once Christmas finishes, that’s when everyone starts thinking of their silly, quirky and even serious New Year’s Resolutions. They usually tend to be the same every year, since come February you gave up and quit, so a New Year means a new start to what you wanted Last Year.

For most women they tend to be about losing weight or even simply eating better. For men, I believe it tends to be more about quitting drinking if they tend to over-indulge. But whatever the case may be, I think we’re all guilty of not completing the year before’s resolution(s).

To keep things simple for myself, I decided I’m not going to set a New Year’s Resolution. Why should I tell myself, “I should do this…” or, “I should try that…” when I know that I’m going to completely forget about it fairly soon? I tend to set general goals for myself throughout a year that I know I can (and WILL) actually accomplish, instead of waiting till the beginning of a new year to say, “I’m going to do [this] this year”.

My boyfriend and I decided around November that we REALLY needed to get ourselves into college and pursue some type of career. Why should we wait for January to roll around to get ourselves started looking at colleges? It was something that desperately needed to be done, and now it’s been accomplished.

We’re both enrolled at DeVry University, with me pursuing an Associate’s Degree in Web Graphic Design, and him pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Networking. Although I’m nervous for school to start, because I don’t know 100% what to expect from college, I’m glad that we set a goal and actually did it, instead of starting to and then not actually doing it.

I know, maybe I should set my Resolution to be something like getting a 3.0+ GPA, or getting on the Dean’s list for sweet grades. That’s all good and dandy, but that’s just something to I’m going to strive for automatically. When I was a freshman in high school, for my first semester I got a 3.8GPA, so I know that I can easily get a 3.0 or even my old 3.8 GPA if I really wanted to. I had it then, so I can get it now.

Since I’m pregnant with my second child, maybe I should set something around being the best mom to two kids I could possibly be. Why, though? I KNOW I’m going to be the best mom to my two kids, so I’m not going to bother making it a New Year’s Resolution. Maybe I should set it for something a little more difficult like being a manager at a company? That might actually be reachable if I was currently working, or if someone would hire a 4 month pregnant woman. Maybe my boyfriend should set it as his New Year’s Resolution to be the manager at his job? That’s ALWAYS been his goal, so why should he make that his Resolution?

To me, Resolutions are just silly, something that typically goes in one ear and out the other. If you can set yourself a goal to something that’s going to be attainable, it should be attainable within 3-4 months. After that 4th or even 5th month, you entirely forgot that you even had a resolution, let alone remembering what it was that your goal was supposed to be. I wonder, though, who even began this tradition of setting goals that only 12% of the population actually succeed in?

Men tend to achieve their goals when they’re set in smaller chunks like losing a pound a week, instead of just general losing weight. Women tend to achieve their goals when they make it a public thing and have people backing them up and supporting them throughout the year to achieve said goal. So why don’t people publicize their short-term resolutions more-so than their obnoxious long-term resolutions? Maybe if people did that then the success rate would increase and the failure rate would decrease?

I’m not judging those people who actually put some serious thought into their Resolutions and actually do everything they can to achieve it. For those people who make silly resolutions with no desire to actually give it a shot, why even make a resolution to begin with? I think the idea behind making Resolutions are good and should be done all year, instead of just once a year. A whole year’s resolution should be to set small goals for you throughout the year, instead of just one massive goal that will fail within a couple months.

Maybe it’s just me and my own self determination to get things done (with a little encouragement from time to time) that I don’t see the need to set a New Year’s Resolution every single year, or maybe I just see no real need. Whatever the case may be, if you want to set a Resolution, by all means, go ahead. My only word of advice would be to just make sure it’s actually attainable in a short period of time instead of something that would be attainable next November or December.

Guest post written and submitted by Heather P. If you’re on Twitter, you can follow Heather P, and engage with her and fellow Hush Hush fans and Twilight book fans.

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Are you making New Year’s Resolutions for 2010? Remember, New Year’s resolution statistics are not on your side, so if you really want to be successful at achieving any New Year’s goals for the year 2010, you have some hard work ahead of you.

Anyone can make a list of New Year’s resolutions, and the list may include the most popular top ten, twenty or more resolutions that are common each and every year. Trouble is, far too many people make New Year’s resolutions without actually making a real plan of sticking to or keeping the New Year’s resolutions that they’ve set for themselves.

Making New Year’s resolutions can be very beneficial for all of us, but the chances of sticking to these resolutions throughout the entire year usually doesn’t work out, unless you change the word “resolutions” to “goals”. Personally, I never make New Year’s Resolutions. Not ever.

“Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right.” – Oprah Winfrey

While I don’t do New Year’s resolutions, I do set personal and professional goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound, also called SMART goals. If you’re going to make any kind of New Year’s resolution for 2010, 2011 and beyond, you’re much better off and much more likely to achieve the personal and/or professional goals you set if you have a solid action plan to help you accomplish your goals.

I don’t know why people seem to be so fascinated with funny New Year’s resolutions and silly quotes, but it seems to me that if someone has specific goals in mind of things they want to achieve in the new year, it’s time to stop laughing and get serious about what you want.

“A New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.” – Author Unknown

For the year 2010, some have made a resolution or goal to find a husband, find a wife, find a girlfriend or boyfriend, have a baby, lose 20 pounds, quit drinking and similar real life goals that really aren’t funny at all. The fact that I met my husband online, as have many other people I know personally and professionally, the opportunity to meet your future husband or wife online is a very realistic goal and doable.

If you or someone you know is looking for love in the new year, the Helen Fisher Why Him Why Her personality test is the place to start finding real love by understanding your personality type, and understanding why people are attracted to one another based on four different personality types. There’s nothing funny about finding your soul mate.

Statistically speaking, that quote about resolutions is true for many people, but it doesn’t have to be for you and I. The most popular New Year’s resolutions are the same this year as they were last year. Which of these ten are on your list of goals you want to be successful at achieving in 2010?

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin

Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions

1. Lose weight
2. Manage debt/save money
3. Get a better job
4. Spend more time with family
5. Quit smoking
6. Eat right/Get fit
7. Get a better education
8. Reduce stress
9. Going greener
10. Volunteer to help others

Out of the above top ten resolutions listed, I have already been successful at quitting smoking, and I was surprised at how easy quitting smoking can actually be for smokers. At least it was for me and can be for you too if you want to quit smoking.

“People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas.” – Author Unknown

The goal of managing debt and saving money is still an ongoing process for us and many other people, but getting out of debt once for all is a goal we have set for ourselves and we are giving a full 100% of our time and energies to accomplishing our goal to be debt free. A dear friend gifted us with Dave Ramsey’s book The Total Money Makeover and the accompanying The Total Money Makeover Workbook recently, and I’m so excited to start reading through the book and workbook with my dear hubby.

While talking to one of my daughters recently about my goal to lose weight over the next few months, she told me about an amazing book called You: On A Diet: The Owner’s Manual for Waist Management and the You On A Diet Workout DVD by Mehmet C Oz (Dr Oz from the Oprah Show) and Michael F. Roizen. With the help of this book and workout DVD, I now have a better understanding of how our brain, stomach, hormones, muscles, heart, genetics, and stress levels all interact biologically to determine if our body is the size of a baseball bat or the size of a baseball stadium. I will achieve my goals of losing weight and getting fit, and you can too. Oh, and the humor these two authors use in these books will make you laugh out loud, of that I’m sure.

Losing weight is always one of the top, if not the most popular, resolution people make each and every year. People often say, “I resolve to lose twenty pounds this year”, but are often clueless about how to lose weight successfully or where and how to begin a weight loss program. Fortunately, I recently heard about a book by author David Zinczenko called Eat This Not That, and it’s on its way to me now.

Did you know?
· Choosing Prime Rib over Baby Back Ribs at Outback will save you more than 2,000 calories?
· You can save nearly 500 calories and more than 20 grams of fat just by ordering a banana split at Dairy Queen instead of Baskin-Robbins?
· A Stouffer’s White Meat Chicken Pot Pie has as much saturated fat as 6 scoops of ice cream? (Choose our alternative and save more than 900 calories!)

If you didn’t know those diet facts, don’t feel bad because I didn’t either. Most diet books promise some secret formula to losing weight, or offer a mystifying scientific-sounding diet plan to melt away pounds but not Eat This, Not That. The latest, updated 2010 version of the  “diet book” from Men’s Health Editor-in-Chief David Zinczenko and Men’s Health food and nutrition editor Matt Goulding is a must-have for anyone serious about losing weight and getting healthy. The Eat This Not That! diet is not a diet in the traditional sense, but a calorie counter’s dream.

Many people are clueless when it comes to the calories in the foods they eat at home or at restaurants, and even when they guess, they usually underestimate the number of calories consumed. I can hardly wait to receive the Eat This Not That book because we tend to eat out at restaurants a few times a month, and being able to make good, healthy food choices is vital for anyone wanting/needing to lose weight.

“The man who will not execute his resolutions when they are fresh upon him can have no hope from them afterwards; they will be dissipated, lost and perish in the hurry and scurry of the world, or sunk in the slough of indolence.” – Marie Edgeworth

Are you making New Year’s resolutions for 2010? What goals do you want to accomplish in the coming year? Have you created a workable plan of action to help you reach your goals? Out of the top ten New Year’s resolutions listed above, what is your number one top goal and which comes in second?

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Merry Christmas to you and yours! Happy Holidays, Feliz Navidad, or all the other ways of saying Merry Christmas in different languages that I don’t know. I’ll be taking the rest of the decade off and then start working on those New Year’s resolutions…(goals really) like everyone else.

If you’re looking for something to read during your Christmas holiday season, here are few Telling It Like It Is gems you may have missed, plus a couple of interesting articles written by online friends.

• Why Are Women So Strange and Men So Weird?
• A Child’s Ten Commandments For Parents
• Empty Nest Syndrome-Children Leaving Home, What Do I Do Now?
• Keeping The Fire Alive in Your Marriage
• Female Body Image in the Media-The Pressure to Be Thin in Society
• The Most Unbelievable Story Ever Told
• Finding Joy in December
• Why My Kids Will Drive a Piece of Crap

Are you making New Year’s Resolutions? What are your goals for 2010?

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Goal setting, setting personal goals and financial goals in 2009 is what many of us are focusing our time and energies on, as opposed to making new year resolutions that are too often forgotten and dismissed within a matter of weeks.

With the current economic recession and concerns about job layoffs, getting out of debt or managing debt, the increasing number of home foreclosures in the U.S. etc, making a goal to get smart about money and money management is a wise decision for individuals and families.

Personal Finance Blogs

“Telling It Like It Is” is not a personal finance blog per se, although I have talked at length about the Entitlement Epidemic that has been running rampant in society for many years, and the effect entitlement has had on young children, teenagers, grown adult children and parents.

I am subscribed to a generous number of personal finance blogs who offer great advice, suggestions, reviews and recommendations on setting personal goals, financial goals, being frugal and saving money, as personal finance and frugal living is of interest to me.

I’ve read numerous goal setting software reviews and ultimately decided on the goal setting software that I liked best; I’ve purchased Suze Orman’s new book, “Suze Orman’s 2009 Action Plan”, and am currently re-reading Suze Orman’s book, “Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny” while waiting for Suze’s Action Plan book to arrive in the mail.

My Personal Goals for 2009

I hate to admit it, but I need to lose a few pounds since I’m beginning to develop a big belly, so losing weight is just one of my personal goals this year. Losing thirty five pounds by August 2009 is quite doable in my opinion. After reading many elliptical reviews and deciding between an elliptical trainer vs. treadmill, I’m confident I will lose this weight with the help of my brand new Elliptical Trainer, the Alli Weight Loss pill and a low-calorie, low-fat diet plan.

I/we have set financial goals for 2009 as well, so I thought I’d share with you a few blog posts that I’ve been reading lately, and while you’re at it be sure to subscribe to these blogs (don’t forget to subscribe to Telling It Like It Is too) for free updates either by RSS feed or email subscriptions.

• The Keys to Financial Balance
• Personal Finance: Eliminate Credit Card Annual Fees
• Save Money on Your Cell Phone Plan
• Have Some Fun This Weekend Without Spending A Lot Of Money
• How To Keep Mindful And Committed To Goals And Resolutions
• 7 Ways Being Unbalanced Can Make You More Productive

What are your personal or financial goals for 2009? Lose weight? Get out of debt? Manage debt and/or save money? Start an emergency fund? Find a job or find a better job? Keep your house from going into foreclosure? Spend more time with your family?

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