I have never been able to keep a New Year’s resolution. Â Ever.
Each year starts with the best of intentions – I carefully list out all the things I want to accomplish in the new year, display it on my desk for easy reference, and it inevitably gets buried by papers and belongings a week later.
I couldn’t tell you what last year’s resolutions were (the piece of paper lost somewhere in my parents’ house). Â I can tell you, however, that I accomplished a lot of things I committed to do in 2011, one at a time.
So that’s my new thing. Â Make a single commitment, follow through, and move on to a new one. Â Commitment #1 – stop whining.
As of late, I’ve devolved to my 6-year old self who whined about everything – except instead of complaining about not getting new crayons or having to eat my vegetables, I’m bemoaning how tired I am, how late I worked, and other nonsensical items.
Case in point – my father asked why a document I sent him wasn’t updated.  I responded with  “But I diiiiiiiiid update it….and staaaayed up sooooo laaaate finishing the deeeeeeeeeeeeeeck,” (more bitching and moaning).
Dad walked out of the room, with a disgusted look on his face. Â I promptly e-mailed him the correct document and PPT file. Â And made my first commitment of the year (as I never wanted to see that face again).
Making a commitment is easy; keeping it, however, is much more difficult.  My call to action – list what I’m grateful for. It’s a trick I learned from my trainer, who forces me to rattle off things I’m grateful for on especially whiny days – and it works.
Here are some of the many things I am grateful for:
Do you make resolutions? Â How do you stick to them? Â Have you ever accomplished a resolution? Â I’d love to hear your stories on resolutions, commitments, and forgotten goals :)
