New Year's......Resolutions?

I used to think that New Year's Resolutions were cliche, over-utilized, empty promises that were bound to fail. Not just my own specifically per-say, but ALL of them. In some ways, it kind of feels forced upon us by society, like arbitrarily asking 100 addicted smokers to quit their habit on January 1st, just because it is the first day of the year and "ya know, everyone is supposed to promise they'll do something good for themselves this year"....Right?

So now in my life, instead of just setting new goals for the upcoming year, I work on my personal and professional development year-round, and I regularly set and achieve "mini goals" for myself, a good habit to get into I believe. So when people ask me if I've made a New Year's Resolution, I say "Why yes I have!" But not just because 2011 has rolled in and guilt has motivated me to change my ways from 2010, but because it's just any other week, any other new month where I'm looking for ways to improve and change.

Now don't get me wrong, goal setting isn't easy by any means. And to be honest, it can be down-right hard! It not only takes dedication, perseverance, and hard work to make personal goals come to fruition, but it also takes the initiative, the insight, and the self-awareness of come up with those goals and "to-do" items in the first place. Now I do have a head start over some people because I'm naturally a self-analytical, results-oriented, over-achieving, list maker. : ) So sometimes I am just as motivated by the satisfactory feeling of saying that I was able to cross something off my list, just as much as I was by the act of doing it. I love getting things done, and I love improving myself, my life, and the lives of others. Stagnancy not only bores me, it scares me to death.


So with that being said, here are a few of my newly set goals for this first month of 2011, aka my "New Year's Resolutions":

1) Train for and run my first 5K (already signed up for the See Jane Run 5K in June!)
2) Help David find and train for a new career, in whatever ways I can
3) Get back into Bikram Yoga - eventually go twice per week to Funky Door Yoga in Berkeley (LOVE it - and I already have my cute yoga outfits waiting for me)
4) Have friends over more regularly for dinner/brunch/cocktails/etc, and host more events at our condo (such an easy, affordable way to see our friends more often - if you're reading this and want to setup a date, call or email me!)
5) Read more regularly - always have a book in-progress! (I have a stack of books at home waiting for me, and I have a whole list of items I want to borrow from the library and buy from Amazon)

WHAT ARE YOUR RESOLUTIONS/GOALS? PLEASE SHARE! :)