New Year, New Goals

Every year around this time, I take stock of the past 12 months.

But in the past, even when I started out reflecting on the good times, invariably I thought about what went wrong, where I could improve.

That's where the resolutions factored in. And they were always short-lived.

So this year, instead of fixing what's broken and setting myself up for failure with resolutions that are too vague to accomplish, I'm taking a new approach: creating personal goals.

In creating my goals for 2008, I'm vowing to make more room for positive events, things that feed the proverbial soul.

For me, that means:

1. Learning a new recipe every week.
2. Seeing every movie that piques my fancy (Juno's on tap this week as well as La Vie en Rose; finally saw The Simpsons last night).
3. Traveling to places that make me feel more awake and alive.
4. Organizing more outings with friends.
5. Spending more fun time with my niece and nephew, smart creative kids who keep me smiling.
6. Adopting a better house-cleaning schedule, focusing on the relaxing sense of order that results.
7. Reading more books that make me feel like writing.
8. Taking a different approach to work by focusing more on learning-innovating-thriving.
9. Spotting the art in everyday life.
10. Enjoying the good parts of every day.

What do you want for yourself this year?

Whatever you do, I hope you derive satisfaction from achieving whatever goals you set out to accomplish, and I wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2008!