Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year, Ya'll!!  I hope it's been a good one so far!  A lot of people and kiddos will be getting back into the swing of things this week...back to work and school tomorrow.  Are you ready?  

Are you ready to kick off this new year?  Are you ready for a fresh start?  Are you ready to make some new goals...or resurrect last year's goals that didn't quite get met?  Are you ready to change your outlook on life?  Are you ready to see things from a different perspective?  Are you ready to learn something new?  Are you ready to go outside your comfort zone?  Are you ready to excel?  Are you ready to fail?  Are you ready to be honest with yourself?  Are you ready?  Are you?

So many questions, goals and aspirations at the start of a new year?  How quickly do they fade away or how committed are you this time?  Is it really a new year, a new you?  Or does it simply feel like we keep answering the same questions year after year...with pretty much the same answers?  

How do we change?  How do we break out of the cycle?  How do actually achieve our goals set in the new year?  What's your will level?  What's your motivation?  Is it strong enough to survive the bumpy road it takes to succeed?  Is your motivations strong enough to push you through to success?  Are you making realistic goals?  Or are you just setting yourself up for failure...again?  Change comes from learning and growing, being honest with ourselves, and having the commitment to be consistent with our actions.  

Yes, I have the same goal as many of you at the start of the new year...to lose all those holiday sweet treats that stuck to my hips!  I could literally feel it this year.  All that sugar was killing me...maybe not literally at the moment, but I could definitely feel it.  All the weight I lost last year came back quickly over the holidays.  Drats!  So, back on that weight loss train again.  Happy, happy, joy, joy.  

But, I'm also trying to look at things from a different perspective, get out of my own way, listen more so that I can learn from and empathize more with others who think differently than I do.  And, most importantly...be kinder to myself.  Self-criticism is not a productive tool to have in your toolbox of life.  We all do it.  We all beat ourselves up over this or that, but it's definitely those smaller things that don't really matter in the whole scheme of things that we need to just let go.  Yes, just let it go!  Will it matter tomorrow, in a week, in a month or in a year?  If no, then let it roll off your back and move on to more important things.  Remember this when your standing in a long line (like at the DMV) and are getting frustrated and angry.  Does it really matter?!

Yes, it's a new year with a lot of questions to answer.  Are you ready?  Here we go!  Good luck!  May blessings of strong will, determination and confidence push you to achieving your goals in this new year!!