It’s the second week of January, the New Year is off and running and I still haven’t picked a New Year’s Resolution! While browsing ideas on the web, I came across two articles that present an interesting conundrum.
“The Top 10 Commonly Broken New Year’s Resolutions” (TIME Magazine)
1. Lose Weight and Get Fit
2. Quit Smoking
3. Learn Something New
4. Eat Healthier and Diet
5. Get Out of Debt and Save Money
6. Spend more Time with Family
7. Travel to New Places
8. Be Less Stressed
9. Volunteer
10. Drink Less
“Popular New Year’s Resolutions” (USA.gov)
1. Drink Less Alcohol
2. Eat Healthy food
3. Get a Better Education
4. Get a Better Job
5. Get Fit
6. Lose Weight
7. Manage Debt
8. Quit Smoking
9. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
10. Save Money
11. Take a Trip
12. Volunteer to Help Others
The bleak similarities between the two lists made my search for an achievable aspiration for the New Year a little more difficult. What should I try and what can I do to make myself stick to whatever resolution I choose? The New Year offers the perfect time to get serious about all the goals you’ve been putting off but, is it really a great idea to commit to the same thing that hasn’t worked for the past few years? I scoured for tips for how to be successful on whatever resolution I chose and found a few common themes:
· Be Realistic - Instead of choosing broad concepts to pursue, why not aim from smaller more specific challenges that may be easier to achieve? If you do decide to take on a particularly large challenge make sure to break it down into smaller segments that can be worked towards while keeping the big picture in mind.
· Reward Yourself - Sometimes it only takes a few small incentives to keep you on track and make it to the next step.
· Work as a Team - Shared goals are easier to achieve, simply telling your friends about your commitment to this year’s resolution might be enough motivation to keep you going.
Then it hit me. Why not try something different this year? Why not do something to help the environment AND myself? I made my decision to take the Picture the Wenatchee pledge! If you’re one of our regular readers you’re probably already familiar with Picture the Wenatchee but for those of you who are not, Picture the Wenatchee is our watershed stewardship campaign designated to improving water quality and stream habitat in the Wenatchee River watershed. The campaign focuses on simple things we can do to help keep our rivers clean and is broken down into four categories.
In Your Home – Use eco-friendly cleaning products, conserve water, and maintain your septic system to make your home life a green one
With Your Vehicles – Maintaining your vehicle properly and cleaning off in commercial car washes help keep unwanted chemicals and vehicle byproducts out of our storm drain system.
In Your Yard – Pull invasive weeds, plant native species, and be water conscious when irrigating to promote a healthy yard and environment
With Your Animals – Don’t forget to clean up after your furry friends!
It seems like the perfect New Year’s Resolution. The four categories provide smaller more manageable goals which are easy to do and will allow me to Be Realistic and not take on too much at once. By telling my friends and co-workers about my resolution I will hopefully be able to find others who will join me and we can Work as a Team. At the very least they’ll know what I’m trying to accomplish this year and will be able to hold me accountable. One of the best things about Picture the Wenatchee is that they provide an incentive for anyone who takes the challenge to keep our river clean. If you follow the actions outlined by the campaign you can Reward Yourself with a free Watershed Care Package. The care package provides campaign participants with all kinds of prizes! Coupons for purchasing native plants at local nurseries, free car wash tokens to keep you car clean, and even a doggy cleanup bag dispenser are all found in the Watershed Care Package.
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