I’ve seen the memes. I know a lot of you think that New Year’s Eve Resolutions are silly. I’m into New Year’s Resolutions like Sonny was into Cher; like Rhianna was into Chris; like Batman was into Catwoman; like Kanye is into Kim.

I like the idea of constantly improving myself. How many times do you hear someone say that they are a “work in progress?” Technically, we all are. But what I realized is that some people really aren’t progressing at all. They are in the same place they were last year, the year before and 5 years before that. Don’t you have that girlfriend who calls you wanting to talk about the same, no-good boyfriend they’ve had for years, whom they still haven’t left? Or the family member who repeatedly complains about the job that they hate, while NEVER looking for a new job? People forget that progressing is an active exercise. It does not happen minus effort.

So in my quest to constantly improve, I have always written down my goals (resolutions) for the year. My type A personality likes to have goals that I am striving to achieve. Part of this is based on my greatest fear in life: failing to live it fully. I don’t want to look up at the end of the year and say that the only things I accomplished (besides those I was required to) was watching every episode of Empire, doing 600 loads of laundry, and tasting the latest flavor of Lays potato chips. I know that there’s a part of me who could be very happy with just Nachos and Netflix, so I feel compelled to place some safeguards in place.

It wasn’t until this year, after taking a seminar led by the Handel group that I recognized that before I set goals, I must take a moment to dream. Yes, dream. The difference between living and merely surviving is dreaming. Remember when you were a kid and you constantly were dreaming, constantly thinking, about who or what you were going to be? When did we stop doing that? Why did we stop doing that? When asked what my dreams were, I couldn’t name one dream outside of my kids (I just want my kids to be healthy and happy). Ask yourself “What do you REALLY want —for you?” Not what do you think is feasible; Not what is most likely (such as a promotion in a job you already have vs. getting the job/career you have always wanted). Allow yourself to believe in the vast possibilities of you and of life.

Many of your goals/resolutions should be based on your dreams. When you are doing something everyday that gets you closer to your dream, not just to your goal, I promise you that it feels different. I think about this blog all of the time because it is a step in the direction of fulfilling one of my dreams.

My hope is that I am better a year from now than I am today. I hope the same for you. We must remember that to get there it will take some effort. Cheers to our journey! Cheers to 365 days of getting closer to our dreams. Happy New Year Friends!