Take the Pressure Off: How to Set Realistic New Year's Resolutions - by Karen Fusco

Take the Pressure Off: How to Set Realistic New Year's Resolutions - by Karen Fusco: "It happens every year. When you sit down on New Year's Eve to jot down a few resolutions for the coming year, you realize many of them carried over from the year before. And the year before that. And the year before that.

Most of us have revolving resolutions, goals we set at the beginning of the year that we never get around to accomplishing – losing weight, getting a college degree, quitting smoking, running a marathon. Big stuff that we just can't seem to get done, but don't want to give up on either.

The advent of a new year is filled with promise and expectation; it's almost as if we get one giant fresh start. It is a liberating time, which lends itself to making resolutions that may not be realistic in the context of our lives.

It's not that you can't accomplish anything you want to, it's just that you have a better chance to attain goals this year if they are set in reality. Here are three tips to setting appropriate New Year's resolutions:"