New year, new you, just like last year

As the first week of the new year comes to a close, how are those NY resolutions holding up?
Still going strong? Great, keep up the good work.
Not so great? Maybe you should double check how you're setting your goals... Have a look at my previous article on goal setting for some pointers http://bit.ly/Z86mtY .

Personally, I no longer make new years resolutions, and haven't for several years. They can be useful if they allow you to build up the momentum you need to achieve your goals; the suggestion is though, that the resolution is something you will do While The Year Is NEW; what happens when the year is 6 months old, or 3 months, or 2?

Obviously, we should all take action to improve our lives, but why limit that to the first 6 weeks of the year. Seems a bit daft to me.

So I don't make NYR's, instead I do a kind of self STOCKTAKE on my life each winter; and my stocktake revolves around my HAPPINESS. I ask simple questions about my health & fitness, my finances, my standard of living, my knowledge & understanding of various topics, my skills, my relationships with those closest to me, and with the world around me. Most of all, I ask" Am I happy with what I have achieved over the last 12 months?"
In some areas I'll be over the moon with what I've accomplished, and others I'll start to chide myself for not doing more. Overall though, the answer will be 'yes, and..' it will never be 'no' or 'yes but..'

Why not? Because if I'm not happy with some aspect of my life, I'll GET OFF MY ASS AND CONSISTENTLY TAKE SMALL STEPS TO IMPROVE IT!
I do things this way because I've found, mostly through trial and error (sooo many errors) this is the EASIEST way to do things.

When weary travellers arrived to visit the famed oracle at Delphi in search of answers, they passed through an arch. On this arch was the phrase "know thyself". The idea is that if you don't know yourself, how on earth can someone give you useful answers.

I'm no oracle, and I sure as heck can't give you all the answers (anyone who says they know everything is a liar or a fool, in my opinion). What I CAN give you is questions, and you'll provide the answers. Because once you 'know thyself' the rest of the jigsaw pieces start to fall into place.

So if you, like me, are tired of making resolutions that don't last, you could do a self stocktake instead. Best thing is, you can do them any time, and they can cover as long or short a timeframe as you like.
So keeping all that in mind, I'd like to wish you a very happy year :-)
Mal.