Welcome 2010

Happy new year, friends, and welcome, 2010. There are so many ways of making a fresh start and the new year is one of the finest. At new year, we often make resolutions:

• stop smoking
• lose weight
• eat healthier

These are great resolutions to have, but it can be challenging to know where to start sometimes. I would like to suggest a couple of options to help make your new year's resolutions a healthy reality.

1. Simply your resolutions. If your resolutions include all of the above plus 10 other items, it may be hard to focus and achieve all of your goals. What are the most important goals to you?

Sometimes picking fewer items from your list can allow you to really focus on that goal and make it happen. On the other hand, some goals go hand in hand, like eating healthier and losing weight. While these are separate items, these would be reasonable goals to work on concurrently. If all 10-13 items seem essential, are you ready for a drastic life change? How can you best support that change?

2. Turn your resolutions into SMART goals. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. For example, losing weight is an ideal without measurable or specific outcome and losing 100 pounds in 1 month may not be realistic or attainable. How about setting a goal to lose 10% of your body weight in X timeframe at about 1-2 lbs per week. This is a healthy, sustainable, attainable amount of weight loss and correlates with an improvement in health outcomes. Any resolution can be turned into a SMART goal with a little creative thinking.

3. Consider identifying a guiding word for 2010. No resolutions? Don't want to set the same goals for 2010 that you've done every year? Try choosing a word for 2010. This technique is gaining popularity in diverse circles and is creating awareness and positive outcomes for many. Blogger Christine Kane writes about this technique and has provided a free tool to help you identify a word for 2010 and start learning about yourself.

Whatever resolutions, goals or words you chose for yourself, I wish you a healthy and happy new year.