Resolutions - have you made them? (New Year's Resolutions)

Member Name: ItalianFran92

Product:	New Year's Resolutions
Date:	25/01/09 (71 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Let's you concentrate on particular things you wish to accomplish

Disadvantages: Not many people actually see them through

New Year's resolutions for me are the hardest things to make up, the idea of having something you want to do for the rest of the year before the previous year has even ended, they just don't cross my mind. January 1st should be the first day to start them but I find myself not thinking about them until at least February 1st as by then I've really thought about the year ahead and things I want to do.

For some, resolutions are giving up things like alcohol or cigarettes, for others they choose to make a lifestyle change perhaps by signing up with a gym. For me, I like to try and accomplish things and this year my resolutions are to learn how to cook and learn how to sew because these are things that are useful and also things I really want to learn.

I've reasearched some of the most popular goals from Wikipedia, I've also added some ways in which you might achieve these:

Lose weight - join a gym, if this is too expensive you could buy a excercise DVD (your favourite celeb is sure to have one) and this way you can workout in the privacy of your own home, also GMTV's Mr. Motivator, he's great at giving free advice about keeping fit both on the show and the website.

Get out of debt - this is a hard one as once your in debt it's hard to escape, perhaps get an extra job, cut back on the thing you don't need or open a bank account where some of your salary can go and this way you won't be tempted to spend any extra money.

Save money - this is similr to the one above, cutting back and trying to save as much money as you can.

Improve grades at school - getting a tutor is the best way to do this, they can concenrate on certain subjects that you wish to improve in, if this is too expensive, places like WH Smith sell great study guides and books which give you exam questions and answers, if you want to spend no money then get online, websites such as bbc.co.uk/bitesize are great for studying and revision.

Get a better job - just be confident and get looking for your perfect job and don't get disheartened if you don't get it first time, there' a lot of job sites (monster.c.uk, jobsite.co.uk) where you can put your CV and people contact you, this way your more likely get recognised and asked to go for a interview.

Get fit - similar to the resolution of losing weight, just keep active, join a gym but I find to keep fit, simple things such as walking and not taking the car are the things that help you.

Eat right - if you don't want to do this alone, joining a group like Weight Watchers will help you find the food you need to be eating and this way you also loose weight, many websites can also help you plan each meal and by sticking to it you'll be eating the food you should.

Get a better education - whatever your age and whatever you want to do, there are so many courses out there for you, whether you want to r-sit/take GCSEs or A-Levels or just a simple cooking course, browse the newspapers/internet and your bound to find what's right for you.

Drink less alcohol - I know it's hard but you could try to cut back ith your friends, by mkig a pact not to drink or don't drink through the week so by the time it's Friday/Saturday you'll only need a few drinks and you'll be satisfied as it'l be your first drink in 7 days. Also, if you don't buy any then there's no room for temptation, don't put alcohol in your shopping trolley and this way you can save money too.

Quit smoking - this is themost common resolution I come across and also the hardest to achieve, why not quit with your friends? Or join a group? The NHS provide lots of free help to help you quit so check out their website, there's patches, gum, electronic cigarettes etc. which can all help. I came up with an idea of instead of buying cigarettes put the money in a jar, £5 a day on cigarettes? No, put it in a jar, you'll be so surprised with all the money you've saved you'll never want to buy them again!

Reduce stress - it's all about me time, whether the kids give you stress, your job, your friends, your family, forget everything for an hour and concentrate on you. Also, write it down, people often can't sleep for stress, so before you go to bed write down all your worries then they're off your chest and you can go to bed happy.

Take a trip - I'msure I don't have to help you with this one, save your money and go on our holiday, have a great time, if it helps then I insist :)

Volunteer to help others - go down to your local community centre or church, places always need volunteers and you'll feel great for helping other people, especially old people who really enjoy seeing a friendly face every week.

Be less grumpy - not as easy as it sounds, I'm sure but try and kep positive, do what you enjoy doing and don't let things get on top of you. Have your me time and if your not happy with something the sort it out, it's not worth it.

Learn something new - whether it's an instrument or like me you want to learn a new skill, get online or read a newspaper and join some classes, get some free tips, treat yourself to a new instrument and take a little tim during your busy week to really focus on what you really want to do.

Some of these will probably look familiar to most of you as they do to me because I'm sure over the years we've tried to achieve some of these.

Interestingly enough, 52% of people are confident they'll achieve their goals by the end of the year but only 12% of people actually do, on average.

So, whatever you've chosen to do this year, whether you've made resolutions or not, good luck and have a great 2009 :)

Summary: Not for everybody!