After the Party's Over

How many days does Christmas have? Twelve? We know the party of the 25th is over, and we're racing towards the next year.

By now, you've sorted out the presents that need to be returned, the ones that definitely need to be re-gifted, and the ones you love. You've gathered the wrapping, put it in the rubbish, tossed it in the fire, or smoothed it out for next year. Maybe you've had a cozy nap, too.

What do you do after the party's over? In the between times, before the hustle of the New Year, a lot of folks think about resolutions or agreements they want to make with themselves. Most don't work so well (how many New Year's resolutions have you kept?).

Here's what I do, and it seems to help me make more progress than my old resolutions did.

I pick one area to focus on for the year. Maybe it's physical health. After all, if my physical health is better, my mental-emotional health is usually better. And in that area--physical health--I might pick two things I want to focus on. I'm realistic: I know I need to look at trends instead of single-point data so I set up a way to gather data over time. It's like the stock market: look at the week, month, six months, year.

And I start this planning about three days after Christmas, between wrapping paper and party favors, so I have time to be deliberate. What will you do this year?