Ready or not, the New Year is upon us! This time of the year always brings with it a clean slate and a desire to reform our ways…or at least endeavor to try! Every year, most people make resolutions to change and every year those resolutions go mainly unresolved. This isn’t because of people’s lack of

wanting a better life as much as the reality that changes are very difficult to sustain. Our habits are ingrained and automatic at this stage of life and changing them requires constant and sustained

effort.

So, should we ditch the resolutions since they don’t seem to hang around till February anyway? I personally believe that the process of making the resolutions might actually be more valuable than worrying about if you break them or not. Just thinking about what you want out of your 2013, which habits might be harmful to you and are in need of change, or which actions will move you towards being your best person are helpful to everyone. Use that information to set personal goals rather than exact resolutions that are less flexible and represent the all-or-nothing mindset of dieting that most us tend to fail at. After one or two ‘less than perfect’ choices, people tend to feel like failures and drop the whole effort while falling back into their familiar patterns. With goal setting, your aim is to work gradually towards a desired behavior. You’re not aiming for perfection, but rather movement forward towards your desired behavior. It might be a little slow go, but set small attainable goals and add more steps as you accomplish each one. This way, you work your way towards the changes and life you want with a feeling of ‘success’ along the way.

As for the goals that you set, choose wisely or it may be difficult to make them stick. Pick goals that will have a tangible effect on your life so that you can experience some benefits right away. This will help motivate you to keep going well past the start of the year.

Here are 3 of my ‘goals’ for 2013:

• To finally clear off my desk and my inbox! I will stick to one filing system for my papers and e-mails and follow the strategy of looking at them once before choosing an action…bye bye stacks!
• Integrate at least two days of strength training into my fitness routine. I’m starting to feel the softness in my body that tennis, cardio, and one day of yoga per week just can’t seem to change. It’s time to follow my own advice to other women and get those muscles working hard.
• Tweet, tweet, tweet! I’m a little late on the social media bandwagon, but hope to connect with you all more through twitter, facebook, and the blogs here on ewomenwellenss.com

Cheers to a fabulous 2013!

-N