Happy New Year's!

It's the first day of 2010, the start of a new decade. Feel any different?

Yeah. Me neither.

I have to say though, looking back on the year, and for sure the decade, I have changed a lot! You have, too; you know you have. I think sometimes we think that in a year we should have been a whole new person, a better person than what we thought of ourselves at the beginning of the year. For the rare few, this actually does happen, but for the rest of us, we come to the start of a new year and feel like the past year was a waste, which is not true, but this new year will be different.

The truth of it is, things happen, life happens, and the goals we made for ourselves in order to achieve the idyllic vision we had of what we would be at the end of the year get adapted or abandoned. It's ok. As humans, we are susceptible to this. We have huge lofty ideas of how things should be or how they'll change, but when it comes down to it, we get lost and more often than not fail.

But, most of us will find our way again, get back on track, and try again because most of us are also really stubborn and resilient. We "won't take no for an answer," and "if at first we don't succeed, we try, try again" because "failure is not an option." It is this trait in us that forces us to make the same goals every year because this year will be different. This year, we'll quit smoking, unlike all the times and years before; this year, we'll loose those 20, 30, 60, 80 pounds, unlike the several attempts we've made in years past; this year, we'll find that special someone, we'll find that better job, we'll be that better person because this year will be different.

And maybe this year will be different for you, but it's up to you on whether or not it actually happens.

For 2010 for whatever goals you've made and resolutions you've resided to accomplish for this year, the key thing to do is have a plan, and then follow up with that plan and adapt it to whatever life throws at you. We tend to make one huge goal that we can't possibly achieve because it is just to hard for our finite selves to grasp. Make a plan, write it out, have a mentor or motivator that will keep you honest, put a reminder wherever you will see it. You might not want to do it now, but your future self will thank you for keeping them on track.

We all fall, we all get behind, but we shouldn't get down on ourselves and completely abandon our goal and give up and say, "Oh well, there's always next year," because we'll never do anything great for ourselves if we turn around and head back to the beginning at the first sign of trouble only to do the same thing the next year. Really make this year different and commit to whatever your resolution is and revisit your progress every month not just at the end of the year.

Don't worry. You can do it because this year will be different.

(Steps off of soapbox)

I will soon be posting my December skill and my recap of 2009 and the decade with a visit to that 2009's resolutions and what I learned and achieved. I'm hoping to get these posted before the end of January, but we'll see. I'll also be posting a whole new set of goals for 2010, so be on the look out because this year will be... awesome! (You thought I was going to say different, huh? Ha ha! Tricked ya!)