New year, new possibilities. The excitement does not end once the ball in New York's Times Square drops. The holiday is celebrated once but that does not mean you cannot celebrate throughout the year.
Time is of the essence, for you, for others, for everyone. What can you make of this year? Resolutions are more like chores on a to-do list; you get to them when you get to them.
To make the new year worthwhile, here are five new year traditions to get you going for the next twelve months.
1. Get done lists.
To do lists are nice in practice. They keep you organized and on a focused path to accomplishing your tasks. The problem with to-do lists is that they are not promises.
Instead of making a list of things to do, write a list of things to get done, a get done list. A get done list gives yourself deadlines, goals and multiple objectives that keep you busy, flexible and well-rounded.
This is the year that you get things done.
2. Celebrate you.
Not everyone will know or see how much you have accomplished this year. People have their own tasks at hand too. Hard work does not go unnoticed and that should be celebrated, at least for your sake.
Give yourself a day of leisure, cultivate that recent hobby of yours or start a new one. Reinvent yourself with your free time like you do when you are on the clock.
In those moments of triumph, take time to reward yourself. Pat yourself on the back or give yourself a fist bump!
3. Follow through.
If you take on more than you can handle, it might take time away from more important things and relationships in your life. To avoid hurting your opportunities and others, make sure to finish what you started.
There is no sense in building a house without a roof and calling it a house. When you work with people that helped you take the right step in the right direction, thank them.
Not only thank them, but show them your gratitude with an act of kindness. Return the favor and the favor will be returned to you with generosity.
4. Do more and different things.
Challenge yourself to do more than your used to. It can be within your comfort zone, but at some point take it a step further. Take a step outside yourself and experience something or somewhere new.
Taking a flight and sitting in the sky for a few hours is too easy. Driving on a road trip across the country may not be easy, but it is different and new.
At the end of the day, you will not be a tourist. You will be one of the locals.
5. Plan, prepare, push forward.
You can look ahead and set a course for the year, but you never know what to expect. Sometimes plans change, for better or worse, but you can roll with the punches.
Nothing can stop you from achieving what you want to do this year. If you cannot get to it this year, save it for the following year. You have a lot of good years ahead of you.
The next time someone asks, "What's in a year?" you will have the answer.
man running in forestPhoto by 
