Resolutions

It’s the start of a brand new year. I say, Yea! 2008 was a pretty good year for me, writing wise, but not so good for the nation as a whole. So, I say, Do Overs! Or, actually, New Resolutions!

Do you do resolutions? If you do, do you tell yours?

Each year, I come up with resolutions, but I don’t tell others. Perhaps not a good idea, since I’m not held accountable. But if others knew my resolutions, I wouldn’t make them so hard. I’d make them easy to achieve.

I try to make resolutions in different areas of my life, like health, writing, editing, family, etc. I don’t always achieve them. I think the problem isn’t that I don’t tell others, but that I don’t make my resolutions specific enough. I tend to do vague resolutions, like, finish writing a book. I also need to make them time specific. Not just some time this year, I’ll finish a book -- but by such and such a date, I’ll have the outline completed for the book, and by such date, I’ll have the first 10,000 words written, etc.

How about you? Do you always accomplish all your resolutions each year? If not, what do you plan to do differently this year? Do you do one resolution each year, or multiple ones? Are you vague, like lose weight? Or are you specific, like attend 3 writing workshops or conferences before November 2009? Do you post your resolutions somewhere so you see them every day? Do you track your progress on achieving each goal? Each year, have you forgotten your resolutions by mid-January?

What kind of a resolution maker and keeper are you?