New Year's Resolutions

I make resolutions every year, and have done for as long as I can remember.  Many of them are not new - they could be things I've been working on throughout the year, or even longer.  I am pretty good about working towards my goals, but my resolutions tend to not have clear end points, so it's hard to say when or if I ever achieve them.  For example, I always want to improve the balance in my life, reduce stress and be healthy.  But how do I know at the end of the year whether I have achieved greater life balance?

I am going to try three new things this year.  The first is inspired by the book "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin.  I read this book a few years ago and I enjoyed it.  She resolves to increase her happiness by examining different aspects of her life (ex. marriage, parenting, health) and each month she sets up a list of resolutions to increase happiness in that part of her life.  I am not planning to do my resolutions month by month, but when I think about my ultimate goal of leading a healthy, happy, balanced and fulfilling life, it might be helpful to approach it in bite sized pieces!  Therefore, this year my resolutions will be little manageable tasks, each dedicated to finding balance and happiness in a particular part of my life. 

The second is that I am going to try to make my resolutions into SMART goals.  For those who have not had the pleasure of a leadership seminar, medical school, or a project management pep-talk, SMART is a mnemonic that stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound.  It's a way of framing your goals to make them more achievable.  

For example: "I resolve to cook at home more" is not SMART.  "I resolve to cook three meals at home every week" is SMART.

Thirdly, by sharing some of my resolutions on my blog, I will feel compelled to keep them otherwise all my legions of blog-followers might make fun of me!  So stay tuned over the next week or so, as the resolutions are revealed. 

Does anyone else want to share their resolutions?

To mark the start of the new year, this week's photo challenge is "Beginning."  Here is a shot from Whistler Mountain today - my first day of the year and the beginning of my ski season!