Have you made any New Year’s resolutions? If not, I say DON’T! If you have, it’s not too late to tear up that list and run screaming in the opposite direction. Why do I say this? Because most resolutions are doomed to fail from the start. Why torment yourself that way?

Most resolutions people make are life-changing. What makes you think that the January 1st is any more magical than say, August 15th? If you aren’t ready to change something in the middle of August, I hardly think the month of January will make you any more successful.

How many times have you heard, “My New Year’s resolution is to _______ (fill in the blank), but I’m going to wait until after the holidays”. OR, “I was going to start _____ but I’ll do it next week”. Clearly, these statements make it obvious the speaker isn’t ready to commit.

Don’t get me wrong, I think change is great. Especially if it will better your health or improve your quality of life. If you want to make important decisions and changes for your future, it requires you to prioritize that activity and you have to change your daily routine.

I’d rather hear people call their resolutions: goals. Doesn’t it sound better to say, “I didn’t reach my goal” than to say, “My resolution was to ____ and I failed”? Plus, if you can creates steps or milestones towards your goal, it seems much less daunting. Failure, or the fear of failure have a huge impact on your self esteem. You have to be truly ready to make changes and take steps daily if you want to reach your goals.

Being better, stronger, healthier people is an ongoing, lifelong commitment. You just have to be realistic and and ready to make the change. You have to consciously adjust your daily routine to include the task ahead… it won’t magically fit itself into your current schedule.

If you are struggling: STEP BACK. One of the most common reasons for failure is too much, too soon. Take a break, look at what is working and what isn’t, adjust your plan of attack and start again. Most important- whether you reach your goal or not, find the positive impact the experience has had on your life. There will always be one, you just might have to look harder to find it.

Today’s Pic of the day: GARBAGE! What?!? Elgin, IL is a dying city. Our house is surrounded by churches and low income housing, so there is quite a bit of foot traffic and LOTS of littering. This bag of trash was left on the parkway, on the side of our house, Thanksgiving weekend. I decided to see how long it sits there before: a) the city removes it (the parkway IS their property); b) someone rips it open to see if there is anything good inside; or, c) a Good Samaritan carries it away to dispose of it. Status: 6 weeks and counting.