Yes, I know it is already February (and not even the beginning of the month), but it has taken me until now to settle on my New Year’s resolutions. I have a poster on my wall full of advice and quotes, one of which says “Write down your short and long term goals four times a year. A class study at Harvard found only 3% of the students had written goals. 20 years later, the same 3% were wealthier than the other 97% combined.”

When I was in high school and university, I never felt motivated by writing goals, probably because they were already laid out for me and reinforced by everyone around me: get into university, finish university, get a job. But what comes after that? Living happily ever after? Now that I have checked some things off the list, figuring out what I should be doing and what constitutes success is much harder.

In 2004 I realized that I was on the wrong career path for me. I don’t believe there is one perfect career choice for everyone, but I do believe that whatever you work at should be a vehicle through which you express the best of yourself and use your core talents, whatever your “job” may be. Writing resolutions in 2005 was an important exercise, because I had a goal of moving to a career that suited me better. I had to set goals regarding money, personal development, research, etc. I also made resolutions about diet, exercise, and daily habits. Here are a few highlights from my 2005 resolutions:

I gave up potatoes, which I thought would be hard but wasn’t! Late in 2004 I realized I just didn’t want them anymore, so in 2005 I went with that feeling. Boy, it sounds like I’m talking about something much scarier than a small brown lump of food… Bonus benefit: I lost 7 pounds at the beginning of the year without trying. I do not need to lose weight, it just came off without making any other changes and it has stayed off.

I saved more money than I even aimed for! I was already saving, but I knew I could really maximize it and I finally had something worth sacrificing for. Retirement saving just isn’t that exciting when you are in your 20’s!

Finally, I worked all year long toward being accepted to the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine and I achieved my goal in late December. Without setting goals in my New Year’s resolutions, this would not have happened. I needed to prepare emotionally, intellectually, and financially.

So, without further ado, here are this year’s resolutions:

DIET

1) Follow BTD portion/frequency guidelines: I want to eat more vegetables and reduce my dependence on nuts and grains.

2) Follow the Leptin Way of Eating (LWOE): This means sticking to meals, without snacking in between, and stopping eating at least 2 hours before I go to bed. I experimented with this a bit last year and found it very beneficial to me both mentally and physically.

HEALTH

3) Complete the following protocols: Yeast Fungus Health Support, Liver Support, and Skin Support.

FITNESS & STRESS REDUCTION

4) Follow a consistent and challenging fitness regimen: In 2005 I struggled a bit with exercising consistently and I saw my stress level increase as a result.

5) Reduce stress through meditation and breathing: Last year I discovered that I benefit from meditation and breathing, particularly before bed. This has not only helped me sleep, but also helped me adopt a more patient, accepting attitude.

FINANCES

6) Create and abide by a simple, frugal budget: This is key to making ends meet for the next 4-5 years while I concentrate on my education. My biggest spending area (other than school and rent) is groceries. Food is very important to my health and happiness and I do not want to sacrifice quality, but there are many other areas that I can reduce my spending. I want to own less “stuff” and have more experiences.

SOCIAL

7) Nurture my personal relationships: This means keeping up with email better, keeping in touch with people now that I won’t have a car, and being a caring friend and family member.

KNOWLEDGE & PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

8) Watch less TV: This is mainly a weekend problem, as I will sit and watch total junk on TV for hours to relax. I made progress here in 2005, but it makes the list again because it also ties into getting more sleep, spending time with people, etc.

9) Blog regularly: I am enjoying blogging a lot, so I want to make it a priority this year. I’m aiming for at least one blog per week.

10) Read the following books: Automatic Millionaire, Complete Blood Type Encyclopedia, and Meditation as Medicine. These are the same books as were on my list for 2005! I am almost done Meditation as Medicine and I am working on the Encyclopedia.