New Year's Resolutions

I am not making any New Year's Resolutions. I find it too depressing, as most resolutions have fallen by the wayside by the end of January. So I've decided I no longer believe in making New Year's Resolutions.

Really, it's the common concept of New Year's Resolutions that I take issue with. It implies writing up a list with three or five or ten numbered items, such as "I want to lose weight" or "I want to learn a new skill" or "I want to watch less television." Resolutions are rarely more than one line each, and often extremely vague.

The term "goal-setting" seems much more productive. Setting a goal involves stating the goal to be achieved, but also coming up with a list of steps which will take you toward that goal. When you realize the work involved in each goal, you are much more likely to set fewer goals, each one being more realisitc and specific than "resolutions".

However, I am not making any "New Year's Goals" either. I am making New Year's projects. I find the term project much more hands on. It inspires a work ethic. It has the sound of something I am starting and going to finish. Maybe it's leftover from my school days, during which I thrived on getting a project done. I may not have started them right away, but even as a last-minute worker I enjoyed the idea of doing a project and doing it well.

And so I have a few projects in mind that I'd like to accomplish. I have not set a time limit, as life with my kids is way too unpredictable. But I'm excited about the projects, excited enough that I don't think I will let these ones slip away and end up causing more disappointment than satisfaction.