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

At the beginning of each new year, people begin thinking about making and keeping a new year’s resolution, only to discover within a short period of time that their good intentions fall by the wayside each and every year, “in one year and out the other”.

The top new year’s resolutions rarely change from one year to the next, and in case you haven’t noticed yet, new year’s resolution statistics are not on your side. Unrealistic resolutions are doomed to fail from the start, usually due to lack of motivation, not being specific enough, being too ambitious with a list of new years resolutions that are bad for your health, bringing on stress, anxiety, hopelessness and even depression.

Top New Years 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

“Many people look forward to the new year for a new start on old habits.” ~ Author Unknown

Goal Setting

Forget about new years resolutions and start focusing on goal setting. What is goal setting? Goals setting is a process that allows people to specify then work towards their own objectives, commonly referred to as life goals.

Whether it be personal goal setting or business goal setting, the importance of setting goals that are challenging, tangible, specific, realistic and have a time targeted completion date cannot be overemphasized.

Some people don’t know how to set goals or achieve a goal already set, so when they decide on setting a goal of one kind or another, each goal is quickly given up on until new years resolution conversations begin all over again.

“New Year’s Day: Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.” ~ Mark Twain

How to Set Goals

What are your goals to set? Are they short term goals, long term goals, or both? Are they personal goals, career goals or vague life goals? Effective goals are very specific and measurable, involving goal setting motivation, while very vague goals such as “I want to lose weight” or, “I want to be the best person I can be” are not specific enough to help you in achieving goals in the short term or long term.

Goals give us direction, telling us what needs to be accomplished. Both long and short-term goals provide direction, but short-term goals appear to have the greatest motivational effects for change.

Finding your motivation through goal setting involves understanding why you want or need x,y,z in your life and what the goal means to you personally or professionally, thereby giving you the needed power and motivation to accomplish your goals once and for all.

S.M.A.R.T Goals

Writing goals down and tracking goals with goal setting software is advocated by many experts in the field of goal setting, being very specific with each and every goal you plan to accomplish. “Smart goals” stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound, which helps people learn how to write a top quality goal they can and will stick to.

Specific – your goal should answer the What, Where, Why and How questions, written as simply and clearly as possible. Use action words to explain WHAT are you going to do? WHY is this goal important? HOW are you going to do it, etc?

Measurable –  If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Choose a goal with measurable progress so you can actually see the changes you are making, otherwise how will you know when you have reached your goal?

Attainable – an attainable, agreed upon, achievable goal involves realistic goals that consider your current situation, financial and personal resources, as well as time available to achieve success. Set your goal to challenge and “stretch” you slightly, but don’t go too far out of your reach setting unattainable goals, otherwise you’ll become discouraged and give up, again.

Realistic – a realistic goal is a goal you can control and achieve, requiring effort on your part, a positive mindset, positive action, determination and consistency that will enable you to achieve and accomplish goals you set. Each time you achieve a goal, enjoy the satisfaction that goes with goal achievement, rewarding yourself appropriately.

Time-bound – a time-bound goal includes realistic time-frames, using dates and times as measurement towards successful completion of each goal. Setting a time frame for goals set gives you a clear and precise target to work towards. Without a set time limit, your commitment is too vague, open-ended, lacking a sense of urgency to take action now to accomplish goals.

If you are one of many who jump on the new years resolution bandwagon, make a New Year’s resolution to NOT make new year’s resolutions ever again. Instead, set goals that are not only reasonable and realistic, but measurable and attainable so that your current goals and any new goals can be accomplished once and for all.

“Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account.” ~ Oscar Wilde

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