2009 Personal Objectives, a.k.a. New Year's Resolutions

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.

The Christmas week/weekend was busy as DH and I zigzag back and forth between South Florida, Bradenton and Tampa, stopping at the in-laws for Christmas and taking in a few NHL FL Panther games on both sides of the state. Friday night's game in Sunrise ended with a lost to the Tampa Bay Lighting and as the announcer stated during the introduction at Saturday night's game in Tampa..."Lighting does strike twice" resulting in another Panthers lost. My poor Panthers did not fare well again tonight as the Canadian invasion took over the arena here at home...but that is a post for another blog site. As we drove back and forth across Alligator Alley, I was trying not to think of the recent Panthers' games and spent time thinking about the economy, the "right sizing" that was occurring at work and the 2009 Company Objectives that would be awaiting my return on Monday morning. This led me to think about my own 2009 objectives, otherwise known as my 2009 Resolutions and all my previous resolutions to finally the question of why do I keep creating a list each year?

When I goggled New Year's Resolutions, I discovered some interesting facts, statistics and even the methodology for successful resolutions:

In an article by Catherine Jones, Resolution Solution,

Research shows that only one in ten of us will succeed in New Year resolutions but you can boost your chances of success. A year-long study of 3,000 people found men should set specific goals and women should tell others about their resolution. The key, apparently, is not to leave the decision to New Year’s Eve. Plan in advance.

The mygoals.com website has their Tips for Making Good New Year's Resolutions which lists 5 steps when creating resolutions:

1. Create a Plan

2. Create Your Plan IMMEDIATELY.

3. Write Down Your Resolution

4. Think "Year Round," Not Just New Year's

5. Remain Flexible

As for the most popular resolutions, well, according to the US Government (USA.gov) they are:

Lose Weight
Managing Debt
Save Money
Get a Better Job
Get Fit
Eat Right
Get a Better Education
Drink Less Alcohol
Quit Smoking Now
Reduce Stress Overall
Reduce Stress at Work
Take a Trip
Volunteer to Help Others

Well, I'm off, I have another New Year's Resolution list to create.

As in the words of Robert Burns, "Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot and days of auld lang syne?..."

Have a wonderful New Years.