A New Year’s Resolution You Might Actually Keep!

We've all made them and broken them, too; The dreaded New Year's Resolution!

A few years ago, frustrated with the typical "make and break" cycle, I started to think about the "why" behind the idea of a resolution.

From what I can tell, the point of a resolution is to identify a part of our lives we want to improve upon, and then attempt to do better with that in the New Year.

That got me thinking about what I really wanted to improve in my life.

There's always room to improve ourselves physically, sure. And I think it's great that a lot of people make a conscious effort to mark that as their goal.

But then, inevitably, when we fail somewhere in week number 2 or 3, it derails any real momentum we have to achieve what we set out to do, and so we're left with the rest of the year ahead of us, with no real goal and a feeling of defeat.

With that in mind, I formulated a plan that would give me that sense of improvement and success, without necessarily changing my physique.

My New Year's resolution is something that can improve my life without having me ever set foot inside a gym or limit calories; I made a resolution to get my heart and my head in shape instead!

This year, I resolve to learn as many new skills as I can--with a bit of a twist for added fun and incentive: The new skills must come from friends.

It's a win-win-win situation; I get to exercise and expand my mind while spending some quality time with friends, which is good for my heart. It also allows me, as a friend to connect with my friends on a deeper level, and see them from a different perspective.

In return, I hope to help them feel good about themselves and feel recognized and appreciated for their talents.

I've put feelers out on Facebook already and have already had a ton of people volunteering to teach me all sorts of cool things. Some offered to instruct me on knitting and cooking. Others on how to shoot a gun, or sail a boat!  I could book an entire year's worth of weekends, and some for the next year, too.

It's such a fun and fulfilling resolution to make, and one I'm more likely to keep in the years going forward.

So, maybe a shift in the way you make your resolutions might help you keep them in the coming New Year. It's worth a try, right?

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