Happy New Year!  2024 has arrived.  Remember, only two more years until the country’s Semiquincentennial (250^th birthday), so start your planning now, but I digress.

Did you make some resolutions for the new year?  Are you planning on losing some weight or getting in shape?  Maybe you’ve resolved to get more sleep at night or cut back on all those ‘Starbucks’ cold brews (I still don’t understand the whole Starbucks thing).  Maybe you’ll go “meatless” one day a week for dinner.  I know – you’ll floss this year.  Every day, just like the dentist hounds you about every six months.

Perhaps your plans are geared more towards your home or apartment.  Is it time to go through those closets and get rid of that flannel you haven’t worn for over three years or those pants you know are just too small (and you’ll never “back into” them again?)  Care to take on that home office and get rid of the fifty pounds of paper notices, old bills, and bank statements?  Maybe it’s finally time to clean out the pantry?  Honestly, are you ever going to use that bread maker?  How about the freezer?  Just what is that lump of frosty mystery meat way in the back?  That basement craft room sure could use some love. You’ve been using it as a dumping ground since the start of the pandemic, and it’s becoming a fire hazard.

I know, you’ll take up a new, constructive hobby.  Less TV and more reading.  Put the phone down and talk more at dinner or maybe plan a spring garden.

Good luck with all of that.

Even though we use January 1^st as a traditional “starting date” for those grand plans and resolutions, there’s no reason one couldn’t start them on February 1st, or for that matter, any Tuesday.

The main thing to remember is that old habits are hard to break, and new ones are hard to cultivate, especially if it takes some work to achieve them.  Heck, I got winded just writing everything down in the previous paragraphs.  We set such high bars for success and litter our “to do” lists with all of these new tasks.  The trouble is, we’re bound to fail at some of them – sometimes miserably.

So, what can we do to show some progress?

Well, for one thing, let’s lighten the load.  Concentrate on maybe one or two things instead of a list that has twenty goals on it.  What’s the one thing I want to get done this month – or maybe next month?  Narrow your focus.

Secondly, make your goals tangible.  “I’m going to work on adding 1000 more steps into my daily fitness routine” is an achievable goal, while “I need to get in shape” seems awfully elusive.  How does one even measure success with a statement like that?  Create goals that are finite, concrete, and measurable.  “I’m going to go through my desk drawer” makes more sense than “I need to declutter this house.”

Lastly, understand your limits.  There’s no way you can do it all, and you have to get comfortable with the fact that some things are just going to lag.  Accept it.  If you’ve got a new baby, there’s no way the house is going to be spotless and “showroom” clean, so if you acknowledge that fact and stop worrying about it, you’re going to have a much better time enjoying that new family addition.  Maybe a full-blown garden just isn’t for you, but perhaps a few pots of herbs that you can utilize in the kitchen would be a great start for this year?

Resolutions are a great “new year” tradition, but don’t drown in expectations or create such an unachievable set of goals that another year of failures is almost a certainty.

If you gained a pound instead of lost one this month?  Start over.  It’s easier than you think.

Good luck, overachievers!