So far resolutions are going well

By Staff
Scot Beard
Every year people make New Years resolutions, but most people abandon them by the time mid February rolls around.
I have never had this problem since I never made resolutions.
I understand the idea about the New Year being a new start for you so it is the best time to make changes in your life, but I did not see the point in making resolutions I knew I would not keep.
Honestly, who wants to feel like a failure because they didn't really want to change their life that much?
I have to say throughout the years I have been fairly content with my life, so resolutions were not for me.
As 2008 came to a close, I realized while I may have been content with my life, my actions impacted more people than myself.
In the past I did not care much about my health since I was the one that had to deal with any negative consequences.
I was not too worried about saving money since I was young and would have plenty of time to save for the future.
With 2009 approaching, I realized time was flying by quicker than it did 10 years ago.
If I wanted to be around for my wife and our future children, I would have to start taking better care of myself.
I began looking at the restaurant menu in a different light.
Which would I rather have, the large order of French fries or being around when my kid gets married?
I use to spend money like it was going out of style – and had a fun time digging out of the resulting pile of debt I incurred – and rarely kept much money in a savings account.
The steady decline of the stock market since October opened my eyes to how tricky saving money really is.
My wife, Erin, and I have a little money tied up in the stock market, but in the past five months the account balance has been cut nearly in half.
This year, I realized there were a few things I wanted to change and embraced the idea of having resolutions.
I decided to eat healthier, lose weight and develop better spending habits.
While I have struggled to revamp my diet – unhealthy food tastes so good – I have taken up exercising with better frequency.
I have also gotten better about saving money – I cringe if I have to withdraw any money from the savings account.
Yes, it has been difficult for me to alter the habits I have developed over the past 28 years. But knowing that these new habits will benefit me, and the well being of my family, in the future is making the change a little easier to swallow.
It is March 11, 2009 and I am still sticking to my resolutions.
Not bad for my first time at this.