I don’t really like the idea of New Year’s Resolutions. I think, by definition, we are bound to fail when it comes to making a resolution. To quit smoking instantaneously, or begin going to the gym five days a week or drop 20 pounds - are all a little disheartening when they never work out exactly as you foresaw them. To me, setting goals for 2011 is a more worthwhile endeavor. It gives you a goal to work towards, ways to improve slowly over the year, without feeling discouragement the first time something doesn’t go right, which ultimately leads to giving up and thinking better luck next year.

Last year, the gym I belonged to suddenly became jam packed the first week of January. While I never had to wait for a machine before suddenly there was a line to get on the treadmill and the classes filled up hours before they were supposed to start. I mentioned this fact to one of the personal trainers and he laughed, “Give it a month and you’ll have your old gym back.” One month and all the good resolutions for the new year would fall to the wayside and old habits would crop up again. Hence the reason I like goals. 

So what are your goals for 2011? Leave a comment and let me know.

Here are some of mine:

• Ramp up the weekly Tiger Print coverage with the help of contributors.
  

• Run a half marathon in under 2 hours.

• Take a sewing class.
  

• Finish one of the young adult novels I’ve been writing and find an agent who loves it.
  

• Read at least two books per month, one non-fiction and one fiction.