New Year Goals That Last a Couple Days

Each year we resolve to do better than the last. Enthusiastically, we scribble down or plaster in our brains goals to keep start at the New Year. We promise ourselves that we will keep it up all year. Here are the top ten New Year goals that dissolve in an amazingly short amount of time.

Stop procrastinating

A big barrier that stops us from achieving our goals is our desire to relax and enjoy our life. We astutely pledge to work hard every single day on our resolutions and not falter. The more we think about our goal, the harder it becomes. Gradually our resolve becomes every other day, then every other week, oh heck, I’ll just try again next year!!

Reducing stress

"Stress kills," they say, so why kill ourselves? Instead of filling up our days with so many tasks so we can brag about it later on Facebook, chill out and deal with things as they come up. All of a sudden, the phone rings, there is a knock at the door, people die or some other emergency disrupts our peace and quiet. Reducing stress is a myth.

Getting quality sleep

Sleep is required to renew your mind and body. You are able to handle pressures more easily if you have had enough quality sleep. You vow to go to sleep right at 10:30 pm and wake up at 6:30 am. Eight hours of sleep should be just right. Yeah!! Then the next night your spouse upsets you, you develop a bad headache, your spouse snores louder than usual, or you fly across several time zones. Well, at least you tried!

Becoming organized

You resolve to make your bed as you are getting out of it in the morning. Make a systematic task list that you will check off each day so your space stays neat and clean. Methodically pick things off the floor and put them in their appropriate place. This works quite well unless you actually have a life with an agenda that must be met. Unexpected guests and children (unless they are OCD) will put a halt to your plans.

Controlling your emotions

You lost it a bit too much last year, and assure yourself you will be in full control this year. You will be rational and level-headed at all times. Even when jealousy mocks your pride, you will just disregard it and carry on. At times when you would surely blow up, you will surprise everyone with a calm controlled demeanor. You will be fine, at least until all of those bottled up negative feelings boil over.

Keeping a journal

Your life is worth recording for your posterity, so you swear you will write down all the important things that happen to you. This includes feelings, activities, achievements, what you are passionate about, lessons you have learned and so much more. At first, you write every day. It is cathartic to purge your soul onto paper. Just think of how much your posterity will glean from your amazing life! Then your life gets way too busy and you occasionally find time to write in your journal.

Getting in shape

After the holidays, your body has a few more bulges than it did before. That cheesecake and chocolate covered strawberries beaconed to you and were so tasty. With the colder weather, the bloating is easier to hide under sweaters, scarfs, and jackets. Now you have the opportunity to become skinner than you ever were. You join a gym, start aerobics, yoga or other calisthenics to drill your body into submission. You do not start the day or go to sleep without stretching. At first, the pounds just melt off until you realize you are starving, getting nothing else done and need a vacation.

Reading more

You desire to be more intelligent and aspire to take the time to read more. Not just online, but actual books that are well known for their wisdom. So you set aside an hour a day to fill that need. Optimism is the key, and following through seems easy enough. With appointments, assignments, unexpected situations and engagements, your hour shortens each day until it is just a memory.

Be more stylish

What you wear says a lot about you. If you wear the right clothes, you feel more confident and powerful. People admire you and make positive comments. You stay up with the latest fashion and makeup trends. Then you realize that all of this stylishness takes too much time and money and go back to just getting any clothes on and combing your hair.

Saving money

Since you have just blown a wad of cash on Christmas, you realize your dreams of a blissful retirement have gone out the window. You actually make a budget and profess to put money aside. You use apps on your phone that you plug in your bills and include a solemn place for savings. Self-restraint and planning will manage all your financial follies. All is well! Then unexpected medical expenses enter the picture, requests for donations come every day in the mail, your friends wants you to join their week away from home. Eventually, you avoid looking at your money saving app!