“A New Year’s resolution is a commitment that an individual makes to a project or the reforming of a habit, often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous.”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year’s_resolution

I’ve never been a fan of New Year’s resolutions. I made some when I was younger and never kept them, so I figured what was the point to begin with?

This year is different, though. I’m at a point in my life where many things are falling into place. However, there are still a few things that I’d love to fix in order to improve my overall quality of life.  What better way to make a commitment to change than to blog about it?

So here are my resolutions for 2010:

1. LOSE WEIGHT. I know it was only a few months ago when I wrote this obnoxious post asking people to “join me” in a lifestyle change (I must’ve been drunk sounding all Jerry Maguire-esque going, “Help me help you” like an idiot). Well guess what? I didn’t do anything to keep up with that change…so it was just an empty post. And then remember my 30/30/30 plan? Jeesh…what in the heck happened to THAT?? No, I need to be held accountable and I need to do things in a healthy way that’s not going to disappear once the diet is over.

See, there is a “Biggest Loser” contest going on at work starting on January 7th. We’ve got almost 30 people on 7 or 8 teams participating and we’re all pitching in $20 with the winning team (i.e. the team with the biggest percentage of weight lost) getting their money back and the overall winner (i.e. the individual with the biggest percentage of weight lost) getting the rest.

But details aren’t really important. What’s important is that I don’t feel great about myself and I know that I can do better with just a little bit of hard work and some determination. And that’s why I’m going to document this 8-week diet on my blog. I want to be held accountable by my readers so that I don’t slip up or find a reason to slack off. My feeling is that once I’ve gone through 8 weeks, my habits will have begun to change and I can hopefully turn this diet into a lifestyle change that sticks.

That’s the hope, anyway.

So the initial weigh-in is next Thursday and then we’ll be weighing in every Wednesday after that. If I slip-up or don’t post about the results, DON’T LET ME OFF THE HOOK!! I’m gonna need people kicking my ass in order to keep this up.

At the end of the day, though…I just want to be a healthier, happier CBG at year’s end. I’m certainly happy now, but I could be MUCH happier knowing I lost 25lbs.

2. BUY CHRISTMAS GIFTS BEFORE DECEMBER. I say it every year, but I never seem to follow through.  I need to remember that I WON’T have a ton of cash in December and that if I see something during the year that could be a gift for somebody and I have money on me, I need to buy the damn thing!

3. IMPROVE MY FINANCIAL SITUATION. This one is going to be tougher than losing weight, I think. The good news is that my debt-load is under $1,000 so I should be able to get out of that hole rather quickly (mind you…I own NOTHING after the separation, so that factors into not owing anything).

Of course, travelling every two weeks to be with Sunshine does put a bit of a hole in my wallet…but I’m certain that once my internet bill and credit card are paid off and everything is caught up, the two of us can come up with a plan that allows the visits to continue on a regular basis without breaking the bank. This then leads me to…

4. OPEN A SAVINGS ACCOUNT. If this recession has taught all of us anything, it’s that we need to put a much bigger stake into our own financial future. We can’t be glib about these things and just brush ‘em off anymore. It’s really simple…I need to put a percentage of my salary away in a savings account each pay and simply NOT TOUCH IT. Pretty soon, I shouldn’t miss that money and it will (hopefully) grow into the beginnings of a nest egg. And don’t get me started on kicking myself for having not already opened accounts for both of my children. I SUCK!!

5. TAKE A TRIP WITH SUNSHINE. Something that simply isn’t a real option at the moment is going away with Sunshine. Whether it’s just an overnight stay somewhere locally or a week-long trip out of the country, without a “nest egg” or any type of savings that just won’t be happening any time soon. But in 2010, I really want it to happen.

6. MAKE AN APPOINTMENT FOR A CHECKUP. I don’t have a family physician. I have never, ever had a checkup before. Sunshine fears for my internal organs. Taking a daily multivitamin just won’t do the trick as I rapidly approach 40.

7. READ A BOOK. I know that sounds like I’m a moron for not reading, but I do all of my reading online. I read news and entertainment and sports and weather and everything under the sun on my computer. When it comes to fiction, I normally enjoy it in a visual form. But I ended up getting the novel I wanted from Sunshine’s mom, Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol. And I gotta be honest…I cannot wait to read it (especially after visiting Washington, DC a few months ago). The last novel I read from cover to cover was The DaVinci Code, also by Brown. So yeah…it’s been a few years. I need to read this thing BEFORE the movie is made (lol).

8. CONQUER A FEAR. My two biggest fears in life are of spiders and heights. I’m not too keen on tackling that spider one quite yet, so let’s continue battling heights…shall we? I walked on a big bridge this past year and hit the CN Tower the year before, but I still get butterflies just by looking up. From everything I’ve read, the most effective way to overcome my fear is to expose myself to what I’m afraid of until I finally get over it. So I’m not sure how I’ll tackle it, but it’s something I want to continue to explore going forward.

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So there you have it. These are my resolutions for 2010. What about you? Do you have any of your own?