Resolutions can be too large and scary when you see them as huge, life changing events. Breaking them into month-long pieces makes them less intimidating.

Try no junk food in January, switch to diet soda in February, etc.

Great post!

But the last few years I’ve tried to get away from ones that are too punitive, especially around my weight, since those things (working out) are goals I work on often.

Instead, I try to come up with concrete things that ADD something to my life, or to do something I’ve been wanting to do. So for example my two resolutions for 2012 are:

1. Switch from my bank to a credit union (helps me with lesser monthly fees and helps community/world by sending message to bank) &

2. Take ice skating lessons (adds fun & activity to my life, possible friend-meeting venue, supports a local business, and although it’s good exercise, it’s not phrased negatively).

I read a post by Mary Jaksch where she emphasized the weight of a resolution and it seemed like a goal is less somehow, at least verbally. Personally, I tend to think of a resolution as a dead serious promise rather than a form of project management.

I’m estimating that it will take 100 hours to totally clean the basement–to go through every box and sort and toss. But it will only take about five hours to make it tolerable. My January goal is to spend 20 hours working in the basement. Get a little dumpster in for a week. (I did that for a garage cleaning and it was fabulous.) Make a real dent in the awful basement situation!

So I like the perspective that organization is a means to an end and that we should focus on what that end is. Makes it a lot more likely that I’ll finally sort my tax papers!