What's Your New Year's Resolution?

Here is a sampling of respondents who took a few minutes from their busy shopping to share their hopes for the 2011.

Todd Buckingham, of Severna Park, reflected, "My New Year's resolution is as old as the hills, but I stepped on that scale and didn't like what I saw.  I'd like to lose 15 pounds."

Dwayne Mosco, a professional trainer and coach from Glen Burnie, said, "I want to concentrate on my job and enhance my career."

Hema Patel, also of Severna Park, wants to learn how to play the piano.  Patel said, "We just bought a grand piano for our two kids and hopefully, I'll learn with them."

Patrick Resta, of Arnold wants to get back to the gym.  "I have a membership, but it's been six or seven months since I've been there."

Jean Tiberia, a Pasadena retiree, hadn't given it much thought before, but she said, "I probably should not play games so much on my computer."

Fawn Skinner, of Severna Park plans "to volunteer more."  While she didn't specifically have a place in mind, she wants to get more involved in service wherever she can.

A widely known professional acronym for ensuring that those New Year's resolutions will be kept is SMART (source: http://www.suite101.com/content/smart-goal-setting-a9911)

Goals should be:

• Specific - "spending time on a hobby" is preferable to "being happier each day"
• Measurable - open ended goals, like "losing weight" can't be measured. 
• Achievable - perfection is not necessary, and the goal should be something feasible to do.
• Realistic - expecting to lose 30 pounds in a month is setting up a goal that can't be met.
• Timely - set a date for when you want to achieve your goal.

By looking at your goal and adjusting it to fit these SMART parameters, New Year Resolutions are likely to stick around longer.