58 Noteworthy Resolutions For The New Year
by Celes | 
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(Originally published on Dec 2009.)
“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.” – Edith Lovejoy Pierce
A brand new year is coming, festive songs are in the air and everyone is gearing up for the new year ahead! 
I’m really psyched up for the upcoming year because there are so many exciting things I have planned for next year.
How about you? How do you feel about the new year? How do you want it to be? What kind of experiences do you want to create? What memories do you want to build? What impact do you want to have for yourself and others?
With every upcoming year, I’m always sure it will supersede all previous years to become the best year ever. One reason is because I set goals – Goals which I know will improve the quality and fulfillment of my life. I’m a huge fan of goal setting. The best way to determine how your next year to be is to set goals AND act on them. As Zig Ziglar said, “You need a plan to build a house. To build a life, it is even more important to have a plan or goal.”
For this same reason, I recommend you to think about what you want for yourself in the year 2011 and set them as goals. Here is a list to kickstart your thinking process. Of course, goal setting isn’t restricted to just the start of the year – you can refer to it anytime of the year. There’s never a ‘best’ time to set goals – it’s all the time! 
(Check out the Bucket List article (101 things to do before you die) for more ideas!)
- Stop procrastinating on your goals
- Spend more time with your family
- Widen your social circle – Meet new friends!
- Become more organized
- Exercise more and keep fit
- Lose weight: Achieve your ideal weight
- Eat more healthily
- Wake up early every day
- Be on time
- Express gratitude to people who have made a difference in your life
- Do volunteer work
- Do more kind deeds
- Further your education
- Learn a new language
- Cultivate at least one new skill that will enable you to perform even better at work (presentation skills, public speaking, effective writing, etc)
- Be emotionally generous
- Drop caffeine
- Reconnect with old friends
- Make at least 5 positive, like-minded friends and foster strong relationships with them
- Take your family out on a vacation
- Revamp your room into your personal, inspirational haven
- Run a marathon
- Don’t bad mouth other people
- Stop complaining
- Be a more positive person
- Be your real self
- Read more books
- Read one meaningful self-help article a day
- Visit the holiday destination of your dreams
- Deliver your best performance at work ever
- Double your business revenue (for business owners)
- Get a career switch to a better career
- Or better still, pursue a career of your true passion
- Earn a million dollars
- Earn a billion dollars (for those who have achieved #34)
- Find your soulmate
- Move out and get your own apartment
- Get out of debt (if you are in debt)
- Save more money
- Help other people achieve their dreams
- Get rid of clutter
- Take up a class in something of your interest (dancing, singing, roller blading, ice skating, swimming, photography, web design, rock climbing, piano, guitar, yoga, pilates, etc)
- Drink more water
- Reduce your alcohol intake or quit drinking altogether (for people who drink)
- Quit smoking (for smokers)
- Learn to see the positive side of everything
- Turn every challenge into an opportunity
- Let go of any past baggage
- Meditate daily
- Go on a Vipassana Meditation Retreat
- Write a book
- Visit a new place you have never been to
- Stop beating yourself up when bad things happen
- Love yourself more
- Start your life handbook and use it document everything it takes to live your best life
- Limit your mass media exposure – Stop watching television or reading the papers (remove negative stimuli from your environment)
- Take time out to rest and rejuvenate every week
- Live every moment to the fullest!
Note: Success in resolutions is almost always in line with cultivating habits. Be sure to read how to successfully cultivate a habit in 21 days, an all-time readers’ favorite article.
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| Filed in: Awareness & Growth, Goals & Success | Posted on Dec 26 2010 | |
Hey Celes.
I thought I’d check for the option to comment, so this was a pleasant surprise.
You have covered many great ways to ring the new year in. I like how you connected much of your past article in through here, so a sizable percentage of these resolutions have your material as how-to’s for what to do to acquire or maintain them.
That one about reading 2 books a month looks pretty appealing. That one in #55 about being able to laugh at self is one I think I have gotten down. #7 about regular exercise is one I think I have done for a very long time, so that is good.
I see myself working on a few of these.
I will go ahead and add one here:
Take a risk that scares you, and do it in a strong or even cocky way, and once it works out, which it probably will, continue to the next one.
I guess that could be called a continuous resolution to make.
To personal excellence~
Great list. You might want to consider posting some of these to http://www.mysomeday.com. I posted a few of my bigger goals and then broke down the plan to achieve these goals into actionable steps. In some cases, I just borrowed other people’s plans. Its great because I can actually track my progress and it really made me think about the actions I needed to take to get things done. Here is my plan to Run a Marathon – http://bit.ly/4XF8p3
Hi Celestine,
Lately, I’ve started studying a personal development book for one hour five days a week. Not just reading, but taking notes in an exercise book. It’s generated so many ideas for blog posts as well as given me great ways to improve my life.
I will continue this is 2010. I recommend you try something similar if you don’t already.
Merry Christmas!
@Armen: I love your suggestion! It reminds me of your post on 100 ways to show boldness (http://www.timelessinformation.com/100-ways-to-show-boldness/). That’s definitely something I’ll work into my personal resolutions. I found that every time I do something against what I fear, I would immediately feel so liberated after that! Again attesting that fears are really just in our mind.
@Gordie: I love your suggestion! Thanks so much. I haven’t been reading much of late and you reminded me to repick up the habit. I’ll surely get back into the gear now
Continuous inflow of knowledge is needed for us to keep growing.
@Susan: Thanks a lot Susan for sharing! The site reminds me of http://www.your100things.com/ and the other bucket list type sites (http://personalexcellence.co/blog/whats-on-your-bucket-list-101-things-to-do-before-you-die/).
Great post and I like the way you gave people many different ideas to choose from in order to assist them through the process of clarifying exactly what they are looking to accomplish.
hi celes,my new years resolution in year 2010
1 love my enemies
2 bless those who curse me
3 Do good to those who hate me
4pray for those who presecute me
5Walk according to his commandments
6Preach the gospel
Lots and lots of suggestions! Thanks
While I don’t think a lot of these are totally necessary, I CERTAINLY agree with “Be your real self”
This is the most important thing of all.
Be your real self. No seriously, be your real self.
I’m not kidding.
Great list and thanks for sharing Celest.
I found your advice with thinking about the past year also very important. Think about your most important “magic moment”. Maybe something you always wanted or something you worked for a long time. Reminding yourself of that feeling you experienced when it happened is so powerful in my eyes.
In general being grateful for what you have in your life and REALLY being AWARE of these things is a major part of inner balance and joy. Thats also why I love “gratitude-lists”.
All the very best
Rolf
I love your list. Most of it were in my plans. I hope I can achieve it all. Happy New Year to all. =) I hope you also added the “try to be more eco-friendly” or “try to save our mother Earth”. How amazing life can be if we can maintain our world healthy and green.
Thanks for this list as I will try to come up with one of my own too.
Happy New 2011 may it be the best ever! You deserve it Celes! 
I like these resolutions a lot. Here’s another suggestion. Write “letters” to your kids — journals about family history. Invest in your past.