At this time of the year blogs, magazines & newspapers are full of stories about how to make & keep New Years Resolutions. Whilst I know that most don’t get kept, so this year I have put substantial thought into mine & have a list- on the basis that:

• There is safety in numbers
• Whilst many may get broken, statistically surely some have to be achieved

Apparently resolutions should be things that inspire you & that you have control over. They should also be for changes rather than symptoms. Interestingly this year the one that will not be on my list is the one about losing 20kgs- the number has stayed the same for the last few years, so I figure that particular one is a symptom… Anyways, my list:

Financial Goals

As a triple Pisces with a strong Pluto control freak underbelly, I am both repelled by & attracted to numbers. Yet, financial independence is a key goal, so to help this along:

1. In 2010 I spent enough money on books & music to finance a trip to Europe at the pointy end of a full service plane. In 2011 I have a budget I have to keep to. Hubby has bought me a kindle for Xmas (yet to arrive- he didn’t order it before Mercury went retrograde), so books should be cheaper. And seriously surely I can re-read stuff, & have enough music to fill the ipods of a dozen people with completely different musical tastes.
2. In fact I will have a budget for all sorts of stuff next year. Information is power…apparently.
3. Currently I buy both breakfast & lunch most work days. This adds up…and tends to be a high carb no other alternative. It’s stopping…well all but 2 lunches a week- I need my clear thai noodle soup
4. Grow my blog readership. Between February & December 2010 my average daily hits have doubled- my goal is to do the same in 2011…but with a substantially greater “sticking” rate & more comments that don’t offer me things like penis enlargements or cheap Viagra- neither of which I have use for.

Travel Goals

1. First up is Bali at the end of February with a friend. I have done some pretty heavy training so far for this:

• Booked travel there
• Booked some great accommodation at Legian Beach which, based on the US dollar is getting cheaper by the day
• Spent the last few days practising lying on a lounge by the pool slathered in sunscreen & reading
• I am yet to book a return airfare, but that will happen. I promise.

1. I promised hubby that I would not go anywhere else this year without him or Five Foot Nothing (work trips are, of course, excepted). I even cashed in all of my AMEX Frequent Flyer points on his Xmas present so that I wouldn’t be tempted… It helps that I am still in arrears in my annual leave account J. That doesn’t meant that we can’t go somewhere.

Personal & Physical Goals

I was thinking about saying something like “be a better Mum”, but I am actually a pretty good Mum (Five Foot Nothing told me so) or “be a better wife”, but I think this is probably as good as I am likely to be at that…& I did cash in all my amex points for him…

So, in 2011, I will finish things:

1. Finish a book- I have 2 manuscripts on the go- both a differing levels of completion- which I will complete & send out into the world:

• My NaNoWriMo novel tentatively titled Instant Karma or It’s Pandemonium (I haven’t decided).  I am mid way through a re-write.
• An astro book about weight loss & the planets with the coolest title that I am about halfway through a 1^st draft on. Given that I have been at the half way status for about 12 months, that is a challenge.

1. Finish painting the trims in our house- all of them (except maybe the bathroom)… I still have 4 bedrooms & the living areas to go…
2. Finish the Couch to 5km running program.
3. Finish the Sun Fun Run from Dee Why to Manly (7kms) in February…even if I do walk a (large) part of it…
4. Finish getting fit- properly life fit not just gym fit. Assuming that my cruddy ankle will hold up to this, I also intend doing the City to Surf (14kms) in August, with a stretch target of the Lake Burley Griffin course (I think that is 21kms) by the end of 2011.

My Number 1 Goal For 2011

Is to be Happy. Properly now happy not just will be happy when such & such happens or will be happy when I lose 20 kgs or will be happy when I am financially independent or will be happy when my job title is Author/World Traveller. Happy now happy. And at the end of the day, if hand on heart at midnight 31/12/11 I can say that, nothing else on this list really matters.

(Pic courtesy of Dreamstime)

Cast your mind back a couple of weeks ago to December 31. I would like to make a bet that as you were sipping wine, watching the fireworks, kissing the body closest to you and singing old Scottish folk songs, but before you sent the texts out to wish your nearest and dearest a Happy New Year, you made some rash declarations. Perhaps something like:

• This year I am going to get fit
• This year I am giving up smoking
• This year I am giving up alcohol (well after tonight, anyway)
• This year I am going to get a job where they appreciate me
• This year I am going to be happy

I make the same one every year, only the numbers change- this year I am going to lose 10kgs… this year I am going to lose 15 kgs… this year I am going to lose 20kgs… Given that my goal weight doesn’t change from year to year, it doesn’t take a genius to work out how successful I usually am.

But this year I didn’t really make a resolution. My only resolution was beautifully open ended- to clear the clutter (both physical & mental) so I have room for good stuff and opportunities. I have deliberately not defined that, but know that I do need to do so.

The other day, the trainer at my gym asked me what my goals were. We had been training together since April and my weight had gone up not down. He was trying to get to the bottom of why.

‘Because I eat too much, drink too much and don’t move enough,’ I replied.

‘But Jo, you know what you have to do. I can’t physically stop you from eating.’

I couldn’t tell him the real reason why I was piling on the weight. He wouldn’t understand about filling of internal spaces and providing a protective external coating from temptation. So I simply agreed with him.

‘OK, it’s time to get serious.  I think we need to discuss your goals,’ he said, waiting for my response. When none was forthcoming he continued: ‘What are your goals Jo?’

‘To lose weight,’ I reply. Duh. Like I would be down here submitting myself to this pain if I didn’t want that?

‘How much?’ he asked.

‘Ummm, 20 kgs sounds like a nice round number.’

‘By when?’

‘Ummm, before I go on the cruise in July?’

‘What does 20kgs mean?’

 ‘It means that I won’t be the fattest person on the cruise.’ What did he think it would mean?

‘Is that all?’

‘No, I want to look good in jeans, I want to feel better about myself and I don’t want my feet to hurt when I wear heels.’

‘Why do you wear shoes that hurt?’

‘They don’t when I am sitting down, but the heavier I get, the more weight ends up on the ball of my foot, so it hurts,’ I reply.

 ‘How are you going to lose the weight?’ he asks. Now the man wants details…. Isn’t that his job to tell me how it is going to happen? Apparently not.

‘Jo, you are the one that needs to set your own goals. You have to plan for your own success- that means setting a realistic time based target for sensible weight loss. It also means planning how you are going to do it.’

Whoa! Now we are sounding way too much like work. What is this- a freaking project plan, complete with milestones and dependencies? Apparently so. 

‘I’m waiting for the New Moon in Capricorn and Saturn to go retrograde,’ I reply.

Now, before you go & count the number of Saturn words in that conversation (all good Saturn blogs should teach you a lesson about something), there is actually method in my madness and not simply Piscean avoidance tactics.

The New Moon is all about fresh starts and projects, new endeavours. Capricorn is about practicality and goal setting and hard work and discipline. So, the New Moon in Capricorn is actually the best time to be starting out on any resolution- no matter how drunk you were when you made it. The Universe has given us a New Moon after New Years Eve simply so that we can re-assess what we stupidly announced to all and sundry when we were in party mode.

I see you nodding in understanding, but stay with me, it gets better. The Universe is also sending Saturn into retrograde this year. Not just so that he can have another whack at opposing my natal Saturn and my natal Moon (both of which were heavy transits- there’s a clue for the Saturn word quiz), but so that we can re-think our goals and strategies.

Saturn rules the supports, structures, rules and responsibilities in our life. In theory, Saturn is the fun cop who says “no, it is time you went home young lady,” when every part of you is crying out to say yes. When Saturn is retrograde, he is sending you back to your room to think very carefully about what you are doing, goals you have started working towards and the commitments you have made. It is sort of like a planetary cooling off period when it is OK to re-assess and change direction or re-assess and say “no”. This is not the time to make new commitments or start new projects, but great to sort out just what you want out of existing goals.

In true Saturn style, he is giving you until the end of May to sort your shit out, get rid of any frustrations and re-think the viability of any promises you have already made. So, in view of that, I figure I have another couple of days before I have to re-visit my goals, so excuse me, but I have a rather nice little Te Kairinga Pinot Noir that I need to experience.