New Year Resolutions

Christmas is over and tomorrow begins a new year.  Tomorrow you will sit down with a pencil and paper and chew on your eraser as you try to come up with some resolutions.  But at the end of 10 minutes, you’ll probably end up with a ruined eraser and ideas that go way over the top.  By February, half of those ideas will most likely be thrown out the window, and you’ll figure it’s too late to make some more.  Sad, isn’t it?

I admit that I do that too.  To be honest, I think that in all the years I’ve made goals, I’ve completed just 1 of them.  So much for New Year goals!

I think it’s time for us to start brainstorming and come up with a new battle plan, don’t you?  Here are some tips that I think will help us this year as we make our resolutions…

BE DEDICATED

Before you even write down your resolutions, ask yourself, “Am I going to make a contentious effort to achieve this goal?”  Really think about it.  If you’re not sure you’re going to have the time or desire to dedicate yourself to doing something consistently, then you probably shouldn’t make that a goal in the first place unless you have a lot of willpower!

BE SPECIFIC

One of my resolutions for 2016 is to exercise.  But that’s so general!  We need to be specific about our goals in order to eliminate the wiggle room and create a solid plan.  So under the heading “exercise,” determine what you want to accomplish.  For me, I want to find “my” sport.  I’m not a sporty person and I haven’t ever played a sport before, so this year I want to determine a sport I want to pursue.  Also, I want to make sure to spend 1 hour a week doing some sort of PE.

BE REALISTIC

You’re probably wondering why my PE goal is so small.  I mean, why just one hour a week?  A lot of people probably spend half an hour daily exercising!  Yes, that may be true, but I’m not aiming to be an athlete.  Right now, I don’t even have an exercise routine!  Going from not exercising at all to being an athlete in just a year is not verily realistic, is it?  Write your goals with reality in mind.  I really don’t think you’re going to go from ice skating for fun to competition level in a year!  Set reachable goals.  You can always raise your goals a bit more next year.

With all of that being said, here are some of my resolutions I’ve made based off of those tips:

Read More - Complete a reading challenge

Improve on Flute – Practice 3+ times per week

Write 3 Hymn Arrangements – At least 1 including a flute part

Blog More – Expand blog content; stick to a blogging schedule

Learn Guitar – Complete a beginner guitar course

Learn Photography – Complete a photography course

Start Repurposing – Learn to repurpose clothing

Read the Bible in a Year – Read 3 chapters per day

Exercise – find a sport; spend 1 hour weekly doing PE

Practice Hand-lettering – begin hand-lettering cards

Feel free to comment below and let me know what you think!  What are some of your resolutions this year?

Good-bye, 2015!!!!!!!!!!!