Here it is ticking down to the last hours of 2023 and that’s the time we traditionally start listing off those New Year’s Resolutions of things we’d like to change or improve upon in the upcoming new year. But are resolutions really the way to go?

Several years ago I had an epiphany and decided for that year rather than making resolutions I would set goals with actual plans of action for achieving them throughout the year and you know what? It actually worked. It was the year of dreaded Covid, the worldwide pandemic. I wanted to lose weight so rather than resolving in January 2020 I will lose weight this year, I set a goal to lose weight with an action plan to achieve this goal with a step-by-step strategy for getting to my ideal weight. Guess what? It worked!

When the pandemic hit, lock downs happened, and others were gaining what was fondly called the Covid 15 pounds. I was steadily losing weight. I wasn’t baking bread and cookies during lockdown. Instead, I was researching healthy recipes and trying out new ones that would add to my weight loss. But this was all intentional because I had a plan not a vague resolution.

Let’s take a look at the difference between a resolution and a goal. By their mere definition you can see a goal is the result of action–“the object of a person’s ambition or effort, an aim or desired result.” While a resolution is more of a compromise since to resolve is to “settle or find a solution.” Resolutions are statements of intentions, while goals are statements of commitment. (https://qz.com/1950695/resolutions-vs-goals-whats-the-differrence-and-which-is-better)

So, in my mind and opinion, a goal is naturally going to, by its very nature, succeed over a resolution every time. How easy it is after the first few days of the year to fall off the wagon with your resolutions and with that comes a sense of failure. So why not resolve to set goals this year instead?

So in that spirit, here are a list of my goals for 2024:

1. Lose weight (yes unfortunately I’ve regained the weight I lost in 2020.) With this goal I’m posting an accountability photo and will update this goal with blog posts throughout the year.
2. Organize my home. I’ve purchased a home organization planner that I plan to use to keep me on track with this goal.
3. Save money. I’ve purchased a hidden bank and plan to tithe to that bank 10% of all income that comes into our home this year from ALL sources.
4. Exercise more. I plan to walk my dogs more too so this is a two-fold goal that will benefit both me and my dogs.
5. Keep up with my blog. In my organizer I’m planning out content for at least weekly blog posts.
6. Keep up with my doggy Instagram account. Again, planning content in my organizer.
7. Make a concerted effort to get out and about among friends. I will make concrete plans to meet for lunches and/or cocktails with friends and cultivate my friendships better so that I’m not such a homebody hermit all the time.
8. Try new recipes as least twice monthly and blog about it. I will plan these out in my organizer as well.
9. Wear my fitbit daily and follow its suggestions to move.
10. Do more with my Scentsy Business. I plan to send out weekly emails, happy mail monthly with specials and samples and simply work my business like I did more when I first signed up. I plan to start this more with the launch of the Spring/Summer catalog.

Those are just a few of my goals. We’ll see how I do. Ya’ll are my accountability partners, so I count on you to keep my feet to the fire so to speak. So, let’s see if setting goals again this year as opposed to resolutions has continued success.