I'm a total sucker for the holidays. The whole thing has me giddy with excitement starting around Halloween and by January, I'm sapped. So, while the euphoria lasts, let me bring you to my dizzy heights. Families come with traditions. There are some overarching family traditions we practice with siblings, parents and grandparents but there are usually some things you establish or adopt for yourself.  Circumstances somewhat forced us to come up with traditions because we don't always travel to family and moreover we just don't have Thanksgiving where I come from.

Now that I recall, our Thanksgiving tradition seed was planted by a friend of mine who was distraught at the thought of getting a store bought tree. For the first time they were going to meddle with family tradition and not uproot their own tree, so to speak. I was having a hard time understanding what the big deal was since I had just transitioned from a synthetic, factory-manufactured tree, to one that had hopefully recently been in the ground. It felt like this was a leap in and of itself. That was till we gave her tradition a try. Moving to Georgia provided us with the perfect time to try on new things. So as Thanksgiving approached I investigated farms where we could go chop down our own Christmas tree. The drive out was beautiful.  Once there, we sipped on hot cider, had a long chat with the farm owners and the kids went to pet the animals and took some pictures with a Santa stationed on a sleigh. We were hooked. The next year, I searched for another farm. This was the absolute tourist trap, just the way I like it; replete with donkey rides, a huge fire pit for roasting marshmallows, hay wagon rides and a personal appearance from Santa. What more could a girl ask for?

These preparations for holiday traditions coincide with the planting of another seed. The transition into the new year. I have established some new traditions around this transition too. I used to be amazed that I would make all these great resolutions and not a single one would come to fruition. These good, positive and amazing things I wanted to do, but none of them would make it past February. And if you'd asked me about it in June, I would have made you feel embarrassed for even asking. So what happens? What happens to these lofty goals, these grand ambitions and hopes for more, better, stronger?

The answer lies in the traditions we keep. If we are trying to get ahead of the game, most of us pick the week before New Years to make resolutions.  The rest of us think New Year's eve is the perfect time to sip on champagne and make grand declarations of our plans for the new year. There is usually a very direct relationship between the level of intoxication and the grandness of the declarations! If that's the tradition you are after, then you are set.  This journey is only for those that want to effect some real changes. Unfortunately this requires thought and planning!

For the next few weeks, I'm going to introduce 8 steps to achieving your New Year's Resolutions. They are:

Step 1: Re-ignite Values

Step 2: Align Priorities

Step 3: Take Care of Tolerances

Step 4: Let Go

Step 5: Write your Resolutions on your Forehead

Step 6: Get some Quick Wins

Step 7: Check in Periodically

Step 8: Celebrate Successes

If you want to get somewhere different in 2012, try this new traditon. We will spend next week re-igniting our values and take it from there. Hey, I went from a synthetic, manufactured Christmas tree to wielding an ax and I love it. You can make changes in your New Year's traditions too and you'll be glad you did.