The New Year is fast approaching. Resolutions are bound to be made by many. Lots of people focus on getting organized, some on losing weight, others on saving money.

No matter what the resolution, being organized can help you reach your goal.

Will you make any resolutions? If so, what will they be?

Do you have a plan for making them happen? (This makes me think of the adage failing to plan is planning to fail.)

Nope, never keep them

I am going to stick to my Seasonal Goals. It's the only way i seem to make any headway.

What works for me are DAILY goals.

I don't make special New Year's Resolutions - I focus on my long term goals (5+ years), then 1 year goals to head in that direction, then the short term ones to actually work on. The long term goals help ensure I'm "moving in the right direction" as do the 1 year ones. But the short term goals are the ones I actually implement.

I'm so pleased that my first 3 books are published. That has been a goal for a long time, and it was only by setting a firm date that it got done. Those firm dates saved me.

I am also almost a senior in my college courses. One more term (the upcoming winter one) and I cross into senior status. That is also amazing! It was not long ago that I began that process, here in these forums.

So setting long term goals are great for getting you looking in a direction, and then the short term goals guide each step.

Big congrats Lisa on getting so far! You've been a dedicated student. I bet you will be glad to get your own time back, though.

I have found that I can't do the year long or five year goals, mainly because I am still living in crisis mode.

I look forward to the moment i can get these applications and such off my plate, so I may be ready to set year-length and five year goals. I have to maintain focus right now with only looking 3-4 months ahead at a time.

This is a good thing, though! I can see that maybe come summer/Fall I will be moving out of crisis mode? YAY, hopefully.

I do but then I forget about them as the weeks go by. One of last year's resolutions was to try something new every day. Well, that wasn't a reasonable goal, was it? Looking back, I DID manage to experience something new at least once a month though.

I will be more thoughtful about my resolutions for 2012.

Lori, I think once a month is a fair goal for trying new things!

Yes, I think I will keep that track of that one!

For 2012, I want to focus on completion. I have a lot of tasks (books, projects, etc.) that are unfinished.

Dear Jilly -

Rather than thinking about long term goals being concrete, think of them as being directions to head in. So yours could be

Be secure financially
Go hiking / kayaking monthly
Have an organized house
Read a fun book each month
Have health issues managed

Something like that so when you do your short term lists you say to yourself, hey, look, these are heading me towards my life goals!