Top Resolutions for the New Year

It’s that time of year again when we resolve to improve our lives and the lives of those around us. We all have different resolutions, but they all tend for fall into five categories:

• Get Healthy
• Get Financially Fit
• Self Improvement
• Improve Family/Relationships
• Improve Your Community

Get Healthy
This is the most common category that our resolutions fall under, with losing weight being the most popular. Our goal may be to lose 20 pounds, get rid of that gut or to fit into those jeans in the back of our closet (it’s been two years since we put those on!). We may decide to join the gym, diet for a month or change our eating habits to get and keep that weight off. We may have a fitness goal. The plan may be to get to the gym three days a week or walk/run fifteen miles a week. Maybe we are finally going to run that marathon!

Giving up or cutting back on one of our vices is another one of our most common resolutions. For those of us who still smoke, this is when we decide to give that up. Quitting drinking or drugs is another vice we try to get rid of as well. For some of us, caffeine may be our drug. This year, we are going to skip that third cup of coffee.

Get Financially Fit
Finance seems to be on all of our mind this time of year. We’ve all just spend more money on the holidays than we wanted to and are reviewing our finances from the past year. What happened to all that money? This coming year, we are going to save more money, spend less, pay off our debt, and get our finances organized so that we know where all that money went. We are going to setup a budget and stick to it!

Self Improvement
All of our resolutions fall into this category for the most part, but we have specific goals to make us better. We want to get rid of those traits that we don’t like; we are going to stop procrastinating and be more patient and relaxed. We are going learn to play the guitar, finally. And we are making resolutions to go back to school and learn something new. We all have something about ourselves that we are going to improve.

Improve Family/Relationships
Spending more time with family and those that we love has always been important and at this time of year, we want more of it and we want quality time together. We want to stop arguing with our spouse and enjoy “Date Night” with them. We want “Family Night” with our kids once-a-week, breaking out the cards or monopoly. Talking to Mom every week and taking Dad out to lunch once a month is another one of our goals.

We are going to touch base with all of our friends more frequently. What has George been up to lately, we are all going to find out.

Improve Your Community
We all want to make a difference in our community. We resolve to volunteer more time to help out at the local library reading to children, picking up trash at the local “Clean the Park” event or helping out at the local senior center.

Our vision isn’t local anymore either; now we are trying to improve our planet. With global warming and environmental issues at the forefront of our everyday lives, we are resolving to do our part to improve our planet. Buying/using “Green” products is high on our to-do list. We are planning on buying hybrid cars, products with environmentally friendly packaging and energy efficient light bulbs. We are also resolving to change our habits by driving less, lowering the heater and taking shorter showers to use less water.

Let’s hope we all follow through on our resolutions and improve life for each and everyone of us. Whatever your resolution is, good luck!