How to Keep Those New Year's Resolutions

Here it is. The new year. We all want it to be better than the last, so we make resolutions. The hardest part is keeping those resolutions. Sometimes it's just not as hard to keep them as it seems.

The secret? Keep your resolutions realistic and simple. Sure, I'd love to lose sixty pounds, but I know realistically that won't happen. I've made this one before and it just never happens. This year I'm going about it differently. This year I refuse to put a number on it or all those restrictions that come with diets. Instead, I'm vowing to eat less, eat more healthy food and exercise more. I'm also going to go about it in small steps. I'm not changing all at once. I'll start by cutting back on what I eat and shopping differently for groceries. Planning will go a long way, too. If I go into the store knowing what meals I want to cook, I'll be less likely to buy all the junk I don't need. I'll still buy food that tastes good, but I'll have to put a little more work into the preparation of it. I'll keep it interesting as well.

As for the exercise, I'm choosing something I like to do anyway: walk. I really do love to walk whether it's on the treadmill or around the neighborhood. This is a great form of exercise and is very simple to do. My problem has always been making time for it. This year, I'm going to start by dedicating fifteen minutes a day to walking. I know it sounds small, but remember, if I'm going to stick to it, I'll have to take small steps. As I feel better and more adjusted, I'll add more time. Maybe five to ten minutes at a time. By doing these small changes, maybe over time, my extra weight will begin to come off. I'm also going to walk my overweight Corgi with me. While I work on losing weight, she needs to, also. It's not healthy for either of us to carry so much excess weight.

Something else I want to do this new year is to be more successful in my writing. I've piddled with it for the past two years on AC, but now I want to develop it even further. One way of keeping this resolution is to learn when I have a thought as to what I want to write, I need to stop what I'm doing and write it down. If possible, I need to sit down and begin to write right then, while it's fresh on my mind. So many times, I'll lay in bed at night and think of something great to write, fiction or non-fiction, and when morning comes, I have forgotten it. So, I am going to make myself get up and write it down when I think about it. I can do this by keeping a notepad and pen with me at all times. I'm also going to research more about writing professionally. I've already started by getting a subscription to Writer's Digest. Now comes the part where I have to sit down and really read it and learn from it. Of course, I can always learn here on AC as well. There are many great authors that have work out there that I can learn from. I think this year, this resolution will be one I keep, just because I want it so bad.

A resolution that gets made a lot is paying off debt. Boy, do I ever want to do that! And this will probably be the hardest one for me to keep. Money in this economy is hard to come by right now. Every penny has to be accounted for and spent wisely. I don't always spend wisely, but I'm learning. I'm going to make sure I don't overdraft my checking account, because each time I do that, I get charged a whopping $27! That adds up fast! As a confession, in the last month, I've had around $400 in overdraft fees. This is largely because I'm unemployed at the moment. The only money I have coming in is from unemployment, subbing at the local school, and from AC. None of which can be relied on. I just found out today, that I won't be getting unemployment since the school district is out for a two week break. What a slap in the face! Two weeks without any income! It's very frightening to have to face it all, but I am. My husband does work, but it's just not enough. So, as the new year comes in, money is an issue that must be dealt with seriously and I promise to do my best to get it all under control.

That leads into my next resolution. Savings. We've never been good at saving money, whether for a vacation, college, anything. We're at a point in our lives now where we are regretting that. So, once I get back to a regular income, hopefully as soon as possible, and we get our bills under control, putting money back for that rainy day will be a priority. We may have to start small at first, 10% of our paycheck, but it is a start. As we get back on our feet, we can increase it to maybe 20 or 30%. Planning for the future is something everyone should do. We failed to do that and I hope others learn from our mistakes. One way to keep that promise is to keep extra money coming in, whether it's side jobs or second jobs, we'll have to do whatever it takes.

I may not have a foolproof plan for keeping my resolutions, but I'm going to work hard to make them happen. I hope that I can at least be an inspiration for others. Good luck with all your resolutions for the new year!