Top 5 Ways to Keep Your New Year's Resolutions

New Year's Resolutions. Those three words sound incredibly ominous. Like weights bearing down on your shoulders just waiting for you to bend and break and snap out of your funk of not eating chocolate or trying to be a better person, whatever that means.

Last year I vowed to be honest with myself. That was hard but I've stuck to my guns and I've definitely become a stronger person by the five tips that follow.

5. Take a deep breath and count to 5. Or 10. Sometimes it takes a better person to take a step back, take a deep breath and think about the next few words that might come out of your mouth. I know I've looked like an idiot this past year by standing and staring at my husband while trying to put thoughts together in my head before blurting anything out. It helps, try it.

4. Write down your thoughts or blog them. Get them out on paper or on the internet. You may surprise yourself with what you come up with. I decided to actually do National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short. I didn't make 50,000 words and I have no excuses. I made it to 22,390. But, I still did it and I'm proud of my half written story. My characters are still waiting for me. But blog posts, well, that's another story, I blogged over 15 posts per month and I'm happy that I got those thoughts out, no matter that most of them were recipes for chili and chicken pot pie.

3. Be able to sit in silence. You know the old rule, silence is golden? It is, because when you're comfortable with yourself, you're comfortable to sit in peace and relish the moment of silence. No news, no noise, just yourself and your thoughts.

2. Ask for constructive criticism and be able to take it. Take it all in and embrace it. If someone points out the fact that you were rude, acknowledge your actions and be conscious of that next time. Criticism is very easy to dish out, an honest person will be able to say thank you.

1. Stick to your guns. Remind yourself every day of your New Year's Resolution. I certainly did and I've become a better person. I can say no and not feel bad about it. I can tell someone that they were rude to me and not back away shaking like a bag of freshly popped popcorn. It works and it's worth it.

You thought of your New Year's Resolutions for a reason. Now, get to it. Think them through and keep the ones that are most important to you. I don't care if it's going vegan (which I could never do) or volunteering at an animal shelter. Your resolutions are important and life changing, embrace your resolutions and go for them. You can do it, stick with the program and you'll see next year at this time that you'll have made a fantastic change for the better. New Year's Resolutions really aren't so hard after all.