WEEKLY UPDATE: A New Way to Set New Goals

Summary: Here's an exercise that works to make a solid declaration—to yourself—about your goals and resolutions any time of any year.

Last week, I got a little surprise in the mail: A nondescript envelope scrawled in my own handwriting and containing a 3-by-5 card with just a couple of bullet points. It took me a second to recognize what I was looking at, but when I did, I smiled.

You see, last year, I participated in an exercise around the new year. A group of us gathered to write down everything we wanted to get rid of in our lives and everything we wanted to be open to in 2009. We burned the card that listed the negatives in a symbolic gesture of release. Then, to signify invitation, we put the card with the positives—those things we wanted to bring into our lives—in an envelope that we addressed to ourselves. The cards were mailed to us at the start of 2010 to let us review how far we'd come in embracing what we wanted to embrace.

This is the second time I've participated in such an exercise, and I highly recommend it to anyone who's interested. ... How are your goals coming along this first week of the new year?

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