I’m a planner. I love to make lists and set goals. I do it all year long, and I look forward to making my resolutions every January. One year I set 83 New Year’s Resolutions. And do you know what is even crazier? I was successful!

Not perfect. But successful.

It’s still January, so it’s not too late to jump on the bandwagon and set some resolutions. Which is a good thing, because I haven’t actually set any yet…

So to help us all catch up before January is over, I want to share my 3 most important tips for success with your New Year’s Resolutions.

1. Don’t listen to the “experts.”

Let me set the record straight once and for all: I am not an expert. You might call me a fanatic, but I just love to make goals. So what’s my secret to success? I do what works for me!

Earlier this month I read an article by an *expert* on successful resolutions, and I disagreed with the entire article. So am I going to change my ways because the experts say I should? No way! I have never believed in the idea that there is one right way to do things. I firmly believe there are a million right ways to do something, and it is up to YOU to find your own way.

So if I don’t think you should change what you do because of what an expert says, what is so different about me shelling out all of this advice? I want to show you my way to do it because every time you gather a new idea, it brings you one step closer to finding your own right way.

Find your own right way – no matter what the experts say – and do it.

2. There is no magic switch.

I want to share a little secret with you that took me years to learn. When the ball drops on New Years’ Eve, it doesn’t flip a magic switch that makes us suddenly perfect at things we have never been able to do before.

We start out the year totally jazzed and set resolutions that look something like this: “This year I am going to run 10 miles every morning.” or “This year I will take an amazing-award-winning-photo every single day without fail.”

We do great for a few days, but then January 5th rolls around and we just can’t drag ourselves out of bed for that morning run. Or we realize as we’re drifting off to sleep that night that we’re not even sure where the camera is.

Seriously, there is no magic switch.

Instead of expecting perfection to magically happen because the last number on the calendar changed, make your resolution a goal of where you will be by the *end* of the year. Let yourself work up to perfection instead of abandoning the whole idea when you expect too much too soon and end up falling short.

3. Redefine success.

In that same “expert” article this month, I read that in order to set yourself up for success, you MUST set a specific, measurable goal. So “improve my health” would be a poor goal, while “work out 3 times a week for 45 minutes each session” would be a fabulous goal.

Pure crap.

Seriously.

I know exactly which one of these goals sets me for complete failure.

Here is the key to my success: Set yourself up to succeed. I make up what my own success looks like! In other words, I set my resolutions in a way that is practically impossible to fail.

Of those two example resolutions, I would go with “improve my health.” ANY improvement in my health makes me successful! Whether I improve my diet, lose a dress size, start sleeping better, exercise more, or just feel better, I win!

Are you ready to make some resolutions you can keep? Here are a few of mine this year:

♦ read to my kids more
♦ get ahead of deadlines so I don’t feel like I’m doing everything at the last minute
♦ listen to the *little things* now so they’ll want to tell me the *big things* later
♦ have more dancing days and sing loudly and often
♦ get up and move! exercise doesn’t have to be torture, right?

I’m pretty sure these break every rule the experts advise, but I am going to keep doing things my own way. If you are setting resolutions this year (and it’s not too late), do you know what *your own way* looks like yet?

Have you ever been successful with your resolutions? If you have, what is your secret???