December is here, and maybe you’re already thinking about your New Year’s Resolutions. Personally, I’ve never been fond of the word “resolutions” in connection with “New Year’s.” So many resolutions get broken, and once it’s broken, you think, “Oh well, since I already broke my resolution, I don’t have to keep trying to keep it.” Resolutions are things that have to be “kept.” “Goals,” on the other hand, are ongoing and ever-changing, and if you don’t hit your target “goal” right away, you can modify it and keep working on it. You don’t abandon goals as easily as resolutions.

Also, why do we just set “resolutions” with the changing of a “new year”? Every day is the beginning of a “new year.”

So, instead of making New Year’s Resolutions on January 1, start today by setting a new goal. Why wait until January 1 when you can start now?

Thanksgiving is now over. Did you eat too much? Exercise too little? Are you already thinking about the Christmas holidays? Maybe you’re thinking that in 2009 – after the holidays – you’d like to lose 10 pounds.

Why don’t you try something totally different? Instead of shedding those 10 pounds beginning January 1, why don’t you make it your goal to LOSE a few pounds over the next month instead of GAINING a few pounds over the next month? Crazy idea, I know!

And, even crazier…Why don’t you start your exercise program now? “Now?” you ask, “It’s not 2009 yet.” Why wait? Get a headstart on all your friends. Start walking, running, join a gym. If you go to a local gym and tell them that you want their New Year’s special now, I’ll bet they’ll give it to you. In order to G-E-T, you have to A-S-K!

No more excuses or procrastination. The New Year starts today!