New Year’s Resolutions

North Shore
New Year’s Resolutions You Can Actually Keep!

New Year’s resolutions are a noble idea in theory, but talk about pressure! It’s not like we don’t make resolutions all year long: “If only I could lose ten pounds…If only I could change jobs... If only I was dating someone... things would be great.”

That’s the challenge of life, you get one thing squared away and another issue rears its ugly head. I contend that those people that are truly happy don’t have perfect lives; they have simply managed to make peace with the continuous balancing act.

Let’s take the pressure off of ourselves this year and set some attainable goals rather than steadfast resolutions. Here are just a few low pressure ideas that I came up with:

Take a walk 3 nights a week after dinner
Sign up for a martial arts or rock climbing class, of something else that you’ve always been curious about or thought you would never do
Substitute green tea for your coffee or soda Tuesday – Thursday
Actually take the vitamins, calcium & fish oil supplements you bought
Clean out the scary closet you’ve been avoiding
Volunteer once a quarter or month if you can swing the time
Learn a new word every day (www.wordsmith.org)
Do something small but nice for someone every day: hold the door, share a magazine you’re finished with, or feed the expired meter next to yours
Smile at a stranger every day (might help your social life as a bonus)
Give your mate, friend or coworker a compliment daily (rotate so as not to appear creepy)
Give yourself a compliment every day (repeats allowed; 365 is a lot)
Do something that scares you every month (Stealing this from Lululemon and changing daily to monthly. Remember…attainability is key.)

Laura Folkl