(from Dec 31, 2007) This was my first day of the "new year 2008 schedule." It's not 2008 yet, and we're still on vacation, so I thought I'd step into my resolutions with a day to spare and still in the "relax, it's all good" vacation mentality. I got up this morning and took myself and Koda for a walk. Everything is cold, but not bitterly so. The grass is crunchy with frost and the air is sharp and invigorating. Fall is definitely my favorite season because it provides all the crisp freshness of cold without the extreme chill, but even with that extreme, winter is a close second on my favorite list. I get sluggish in the summer; I get inspired in the winter. I guess maybe there's a little Eskimo thrown in with my Southern blood.

There is a new sports field area at the back of our current park, so I headed that way to try out the new .7 mile walking trail. I like walking trails because I know how far I am going but I don't like the repetition of simply going around in a circle like a hamster. I've grown very aloof toward the current .5 mile walking loop due to hamster-like feelings, so a new spot for the new year sounded nice.

I crossed the bridge behind the park and found a soccer field but no asphalt walking trail. Oh well, no tears on my part. I prefer crunchy grass and leaf-softened paths to asphalt anyway. Koda doesn't mind where we walk as long as we are outside of the yard and he can sniff and smell and do his doggie routine. It felt good to be moving instead of sedentary, as I have largely (no pun intended) been for the last few weeks.

We need new beginnings: a chance to forget mistakes and shortcomings, to find adventures, to approach new plans with hope, to test new ideas. New beginnings are grand events; they are the moment we conquer the world. Weekends are for coasting, but Mondays are a challenge. I thrive on the challenge of doing better, doing more, enjoying more, succeeding more than I did last Monday. "Every day is a new beginning, with no mistakes in it," said Anne of Green Gables.

Holidays create enough of a pause from routine that going back to normal feels like a new beginning. Christmas and New Year's, of course, are the mother load of holiday new beginnings. Extended time off, festivities, family events, special things that are only a part of this time of year. Throw in the traditional New Year's resolutions and NEW BEGINNING seems guaranteed. Except it's not. Sometimes new becomes a simple fall back into the rut. Exhausted, overwhelmed, undisciplined, discouraged... one way or another most of us tumble right off of New Year's Day into the same old groove of mediocre oblivion, and feel a little bit worse for the wear.

I, for one, make far too many and too grandiose resolutions, fail miserably, and crawl back into my familiar hole while quietly resolving never to resolve anything ever again. Other people do the same thing, or make resolutions with no plan to back them up, or simply resolve nothing (that way they can't fail) and consequently change nothing.
This year I am resolved to be smart about my resolutions. I am still making too many, and too grandiose, but I am concentrating on only a few at a time and breaking them down into smaller, less-intimidating goals. When I work my way successfully through these, I can tackle a few more. Achievement leads to more achievement. Conversely, failure tends to breed nastier versions of itself. So dream big, but start small and be consistent. "Baby steps, sir, baby steps."

1. Make a list of the "big goals" - as many as you can think of in 5 to 10 minutes. Don't strain yourself, but don't limit yourself.
2. Pick 1 or 2 to focus on for the next month.
3. Downsize and simplify those 1 or 2 big goals into a few baby steps you can take in the right direction.
4. Commit to being faithful in those baby steps for the next month.
5. Those are your resolutions! Write them down and keep them handy - on your bathroom mirror, in your wallet, by your bed.
6. When you reach the deadline (January 31st), having been faithful in those baby steps, you can choose to continue working on them or start working on a couple more.

If you use this method, you have the potential to create successfully, in one year, around 40 new habits that will be consistently moving you toward your "big goals."