My Resolutions for a Happier and More Successful 2007

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“While many of us take seriously our New Year’s resolutions, some of us may not have made any because of our prior problems in keeping them. We must not overlook the power that making good resolutions can have in helping make our lives happier and more successful—regardless of our past performance.”

“In an informal survey that I requested be taken among 150 young adults, they were asked to list three resolutions they felt would help them become happier and more successful during the new year. Almost everyone in the survey (98 percent) included resolutions to increase their spirituality. Two out of three (68 percent) indicated they would like to improve their social skills. Half (49 percent) indicated a desire to improve their physical fitness, and half (48 percent) wanted to grow intellectually. Everyone indicated a desire to improve. After all, self-improvement by coming unto Christ is at the heart of why we are here in mortality.”

“Only one verse of scripture in the entire King James Version of the New Testament suggests what the Savior did to develop himself from age twelve until he began his formal ministry at age thirty: ‘Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man” (Luke 2:52). In other words, the Savior developed in the same areas indicated on the poll: intellectually (in wisdom and knowledge), physically (in stature), socially (in favor with man), and spiritually (in favor with God).’

“I am convinced that if we make and keep resolutions in those four areas, we will have a happier and more successful new year this coming year and every year for the rest of our lives.” [Quote from Joe J. Christensen]

Since I haven’t been blessed with the ability to always articulate my ideas in such a succinct and clear manner, I thought I would use this remarkable quote to begin my post on my New Years resolutions for 2007. And following in the same format, here are my goals:

Intellectually/Mentally. I want to continue to read at least one book a month. I also want to read at least one classic this year [I am thinking it will be "Pride and Prejudice"] and I also want to try a new genre or a new author. I also want to learn to become more long suffering, less easily offended and less jealous. I also want to achieve more balance in my life and I want to become more productive with the time I have been given.

Physically. I NEED TO GO TO BED EARLIER! In other words, no more late night blogging for me. During the week, I want to be in bed with lights out and my nightly conversation with DH done no later than 11:30.

I also want to continue to eat healthier, drink the equivalent of 8 glasses of water a day, consume less junk, have a better self body image [in other words, be more grateful for the body I have been given and be kinder to it], become more tone, become stronger, bump up my exercising a notch [I already go to the gym 4-5 times a week, I just want to increase my intensity] and lose a couple of inches or the last 5 pounds I have been carrying around since birthing Cory.

Socially/Creative. I want to actually print out some of my digital pictures and place them in a photo album [which has already been purchased and is resting under my bed, patiently waiting to be filled]. I want to finish my children’s baby scrapbooks. As a couple or as an entire family, I want to hang out with our friends more often - at least once a quarter.

Spiritually. I am pretty good at studying my scriptures daily, but I want to bump it up a notch and get even more out of it. I want to continue to read our Church magazines and I want to read our Sunday School and Relief Society lessons beforehand. I want to write in my journal monthly [not just my blog ], read my PB monthly, continue having daily family and couple prayers and continue doing our weekly Family Nights.

And two more categories I would like to add:

Family. I want to spend more quality time together as a family. I want to go on a couple of family outings, one of those places being the Children’s Museum. I also want to get a babysitter and have a date with Rudy at least once every other month. I want to try and listen to Rudy better and spend more time with Cory and Keri. I can do this by reading to Cory more often and by helping Keri with her picture journal. I also want to have a weekly family council.

Finances. We are pretty good at staying within our budget, but I want to make sure we continue doing that. I also want to think twice before buying anything we don’t really need. If we do need or want some new things, I want to first purge and de-clutter what we already have.

So there you have it. That might seem like a lot, but many of the things I already kind of do. I just want to recommit myself to them and it is easier to do that when it is in writing … and when the whole world now has a record of it . I am also big on not only making goals, but on writing down specific and detailed ways that I am going to accomplish my desires. However, I won’t bore you with all the little details, but just know that the steps to reach these goals have been thought out.

So here is to a happier and more successful 2007!

I wish you the best of luck on attaining all of your New Years resolutions. Every month we really should check in on each other and see how we are all doing. That’s what blogger friends are for.

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