And that’s why, after years of failing to follow through with my New Year’s resolutions, I decided a few years ago to throw away the list and start looking at the concept in a different light.

What if, I thought, I created a list of evergreen resolutions that reflected not short term goals but a lifestyle philosophy? 

Last year I found my evergreen resolutions on some decorative tiles while at a garden center purchasing a lemon tree to replace the one I had killed (good news – one year later said lemon tree still alive and growing enough lemons to make lemonade).

And this year, my New Year’s evergreen resolutions were re-affirmed with this coffee mug I got as a Christmas present…

Inspiration, it seems, appears in the strangest places.

Dance like no one is watching

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Love like you’ve never been hurt before

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Sing like no one is listening

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Live as though heaven is on earth

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But the coffee mug seems to be missing one very important fact…

Life is Really Too Short to Drink Bad Wine

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You know, the ‘I’m going to lose weight, stop smoking, go to the gym, eat healthier, be nicer, get richer, etc, etc, etc’ type of resolutions.

If you have, good luck. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.

And if you haven’t, my advice is ‘don’t bother’.

Did you know that most people who make New Year’s resolutions fail dismally within the first month or two of the new year?

A UK study of 3,000 people found that in the end, only about 400 managed to stay on track and achieve their resolutions.

That’s pretty grim statistics.

Why so bad?

Well, according to all the ‘experts’, it’s mostly because we…

- have too many resolutions
- the resolutions are too vague
- don’t plan ahead on how we are going to manage the resolution
- don’t set achievable goals
- aim for giant leaps rather than baby steps

In other words, we handicap ourselves from the get go.

So what to do if you feel the need to make New Year’s resolutions?

Well, Dr. Pamela Dodd, co-author of The 25 Best Time Management Tools & Techniques: How to Get More Done Without Driving Yourself Crazy, suggests that you can increase the success rate of your New Year’s Resolutions if you do the following:

1. Prioritize what you want to accomplish. It’s impossible to accomplish everything. If your list is too long you won’t accomplish any of it. Pick your top 1-3 goals and focus on those. Not only will those have a better chance of getting done, but once you’re on your way to accomplishing them, you can then move on to other goals on your list.
2.  Reduce information overload. When you have too much information coming in, your brain can’t handle it. You end up accomplishing little and wasting time managing it all. The antidote is to unsubscribe, toss out, pare down, and be very selective about the information you do allow to reach you.
3. Learn to say no. Too many people say yes to everyone and end up with little or no time left to do what’s important to them. If you say no, you’re telling yourself and others what’s important to you. Not so oddly, that’s what you’ll end up getting done and getting done well.

By the way, stop by tomorrow to find out what my New Year’s resolutions are…

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Mine hand is up. Is yours?

Well, you’ve shown up at Healthbolt at the right time because this next giveaway is aimed at not only relieving holiday stress but also helping you Achieve New Year’s Resolutions.

It’s a CD called Relieving Your Holiday Stress and Achieving Your New Yearʼs Resolutions.

Created by Ronald G. Nathan, Ph.D., a practicing psychologist, award-winning teacher, and co-author of three popular stress management books, this CD is a collection of simple and effective strategies to handle holiday stress more creatively.

It addresses ways to stay focused and relaxed while dealing with holiday related stress such as gift-giving and budget-busting to jammed parking lots and long cashier lines.

There are two guided relaxation tracks on the CD that follow help listeners to trigger the stay-and-play response, counteract the fight-or-flight response, desensitize to the ghosts of holidays past, and strengthen New Yearʼs resolutions.

Dr Nathan talks you through all of this and more, accompanied by relaxing harp music destined to reduce your stresses.

Sounds like something that should be playing on all car radios for the next two weeks if you ask me.

Want the CD?

Then leave a comment by 17th December telling us why you’re so stressed, and you never know, this CD could be heading for your mail box.

Open to US residents.

The winners will be announced on 18th December and sent an email with the subject heading ‘Healthbolt Giveaway Winner’ with instructions on how to claim their prize.

And don’t forget it’s ‘every day a giveaway’ this month at Healthbolt.

Post from: Healthbolt