A New Year's resolution is a commitment that an individual makes to a project or a habit, often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous. The name comes from the fact that these commitments normally go into effect on New Year's Day and remain until the set goal has been achieved, although many resolutions go unachieved and are often broken fairly shortly after they are set.

– From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I love making New Year's Resolutions, but not everyone does. Some people are just not goal- setting types. Others have failed to keep their resolutions often enough to have become frustrated and tired of trying. Some lucky few already have everything they want and have no need to make resolutions.

If you are into making resolutions this year, but have been frustrated in the past because you couldn't stick with them, here are some tips on how to approach the process a bit differently:

1. Scrap the list! Choose just one resolution to focus on this year.
2. Choose something you really, really, really, really want to change or achieve (notice the 4 really's, al la Wayne Dyer). Let passion fuel your resolution.
3. Think of your resolution in broad strokes - a theme for the year. Let this be your Year of Abundance, or Year of Healthy Living, or Year of New Relationships, etc. Keep that theme in front of you at all times and for the whole year.
4. Treat your resolution as a firm committment - a vow, an oath, a promise to yourself that must be kept.
5. Keep your eyes on the prize. Continually picture your resolution as if it has already been fulfilled.

What is your theme for 2007? Whatever it is, make this the year it happens!

Excerpted from Blog article.

For me, in the past, the entire holiday season, from Thanksgiving right through the New Year holiday, has been stressful - full of deadlines, too many things to do, financially draining, tiring, too many expectations, too much food, too much stuff. Many of you, I know, have gone through this too.

This year was different. It had a lot to do with the year-long Letting-Go Experiment that I have been doing. This year, I decided to downsize and de- stress the holidays. And this year, I had a wonderful and relaxing holiday season.

Just what was different?

Excerpted from Blog article.

Two of the most basic needs we humans have are the need for security and the need for freedom - roots and wings. Security - our roots - can be experienced and expressed in many forms, such as home, hometown, family, friends, money, a staff job with benefits. Freedom - our wings - can also be experienced and expressed in many forms, such as travel, job-hopping, freelancing, entrepreneurship, financial freedom, the single life.

Though we all need both roots and wings, the relative importance of each may weigh in differently for each of us. One of our life challenges is to know ourselves well enough to know how much we need of each and how to create a life of roots and wings with just the right balance for our own unique self. No two people are exactly alike. Do you know what your unique balance is?

Excerpted from Blog article.

It has now been six and a half months since I began my year-long Letting-Go Experiment. This means that since June 15th, 2006, I have released almost 200 material or non-material things from my life. I keep a daily log of what I have released, and it is impressive. In fact, I have already released enough things so that my list is filled through mid-January. Yet, when I look around my still-full four-room apartment, I can hardly tell the difference. This says something about the amount of either clutter or excess unnecessary items I possessed last June and still possess today. I wonder what will be different when I reach the one-year mark in mid-June. Will my home look significantly less cluttered? Will my non- material life also be less cluttered? Perhaps I will need to continue the experiment for a second year?

How does this experiment in de-cluttering relate to Feng Shui and the Buddhist practice of non- attachment? How is it changing my life in other ways?

Is Entrepreneurship Right For You? This is the theme of the workshop I will be facillitating for the Enterprise Center in Salem in January.

If you are considering starting your own business, but are not sure what is involved or whether or not you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur, this workshop is for you.

Date: Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Time: 8:30-10:30am
Place: The Enterprise Center, Salem State College
Address: 121 Loring Street, Salem, MA 01970
Fee: none

For more information, or to register, visit the Enterprise Center web site at www.enterprisectr.org.
Or, contact Cathy Julien at 978-542-7528.

Winter is an ideal time to re-assess your current life or work situation and to tune up or redesign your life. Our 6-week signature program, Designing Your Life, will be offered once again on the North Shore, beginning in February.

Dates: Monday evenings, February 26 thru April 2, 2007
Time: 7-9 p.m.
Place: Beverly Senior Center, Beverly, MA
Sponsored by: Beverly Recreation Department
Fee: $95 plus a $35 materials fee (for workbook)

For more information, or to register, contact Joscelyn Ruelle-Kersker at the Beverly Recreation Department.
Phone: 978-921-6067
Email: bevrec@beverlyma.gov
Web: http://www.bevrec. com/