What do YOU want out of 2011?

Isn't that the question of the day lately...What do YOU want out of 2011? How many people have you talked to that have stated AGAIN their New Year's Resolutions? How many of those resolutions were essentially the same as last year's resolutions? Can we all get out of this "Resolution rut"?

Instead of making a "New Year's Resolution" why don't we just decide to make one small change in our life that we are COMMITTED to doing for 365 days? If we can keep our promise for 90 days, we have definitely started a new and pretty solid habit. To say you want to lose weight in the new year, is almost similar to saying that I would love to not age this new year. PLEASE...we all (at least the majority of us) would like to lose that extra pound or two (or 5 or 10...), but if we don't make a commitment and don't have a defined and ACHIEVABLE plan of attack, that resolution will be nothing more than a wish that will most likely not happen again this year.

This year I resolve not to make any resolutions. I have looked at my life and am focused on making one small, but important change. This change is not huge, but it will have very positive effects in the coming year, if I stay focused and committed to instituting the change. If I keep the desired change small and manageable, and more importantly, measurable, then my chances of success become much higher. I am not even going to tell people what that small change will be because I do not expect them to help me stay focused on that change.

It is my personal responsibility to institute the change, and I should not rely on others to keep me to task. If I need to rely on others to keep my resolutions, then I did not really commit to that particular life change. We should not expect others to help us with our resolutions. Our resolutions are ours alone, and it is our personal responsibility to remain committed and focused. This way, any failure is nobody else's fault except our own. We should not place blame on anyone else for us not achieving our resolution. If you feel the need to blame others for you not achieving your goals, then the goals you defined were wrong. The concept of personal goals is exactly that, PERSONAL. Do not place blame where it does not belong. Enlisting the help of others may be nice, but again, you should have made a personal commitment to the change you wanted, and all the outside help in the world will not help if you are not strongly committed. Essentially, if you make a commitment to change an aspect of your life and you expect others to help you keep that commitment, do not expect to achieve your goals. Your friends and family cannot do what you need to do, they can only offer support. You are the one who must make the particular sacrifice or change.

You should be the one pulling towards that goal, others may help occasionally for moral support, but you are the one who is responsible for your own success.

So, here is to your continued success in 2011, whatever you choose to do.

Until tomorrow...