By Kathy Dunnehoff

Resolution – “A course of action decided upon.”

 Well, I’m a planner, a BIG planner. I’m also capable of great stretches of time in fuzzy pajama bottoms watching Netflix, so don’t give me too much credit. Still, I spend January 1^st, also my birthday, setting my goals for the year.

I don’t think of my yearly plan as a resolution, but it is definitely a course of action, broken down month by month, of my writing goals and often personal ones as well. But unlike most resolutions, mine do not make me feel awful when I fail to achieve them. And believe me, I will not even come close to hitting my goals for 2015. I never do.

 So, how can setting yearly goals and not hitting them make me happy? I’ll tell you how it works for me…

1. Set goals that in a perfect world could be achieved, so you can see what’s possible in the best of possibilities.

2. Accept that it’s not a perfect world and do not blame yourself for the flu that hits every member of your family one at a time in March when you were really close to checking off a lofty goal.

3. Adjust to the reality of the current circumstances and change your goals going forward from there. Goals, resolutions, plans… they are written in pencil that is easily erased, ink that can be whited out, or a computer screen with a backspace button. Your goals are alive and growing just like you are, so change them when you do.

4. Look back on the week or month or year and notice what you have accomplished. Did you make a smidge of progress? Then write that down too. I keep a small “Ta-Da!” journal where I occasionally write down not what I need to do but what I have done. Or take a minute and write yourself a thank you note, “Kathy, I’m so proud of you for writing that one paragraph the month that even the dog had a cold.” Then pop that thank you note in the mail and be pleasantly surprised when it arrives in your mailbox.

That’s all my wisdom about making and keeping resolutions… dream big and be really nice to yourself. If we meet no other goals for the New Year, let’s make sure we manage these two!

Happy New Year,

Kathy