New Year’s Resolutions Again? Top Ten Ways To Make A Great 2008…

New Years Day is around the corner and the inevitable question looms: what are your new year’s resolutions for 2008? These suggestions, accommodated by some online offerings, are a helpful way to incorporate changes into your daily lifestyle to make a great 2008.

Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions

1. Stay in Touch with Friends and Family

Are you feeling guilty because your mailbox was full of holiday greeting cards from friends and family and you only had time to send them to a small smattering of relatives, including your grandmother and your favorite aunt? Get the year off to a good start by beginning a new tradition of sending New Year e-cards. Everyone will be happy to get some post-Christmas cheering up and a fun update on you and your family.

2. Spend More Time with Friends

Spend less of your week doing time-consuming, tedious errands; instead, take some time this year to relieve yourself of life’s hustle-bustle. Invite your friends or co-workers to join you for a lunchtime walk, a yoga class after work, or a girls’ night out by sending an online invitation from http://americangreetings.com. Resolutions are meant to be good for you and hopefully enjoyable, so what could be more fun than spending less time in supermarket lines and more time laughing with friends?

3. Reduce Stress

Do you find yourself overwhelmed with family correspondence and constantly unable to keep up? Start small by putting all of your family members’ (and your in-laws’ too) birthdays and anniversaries into a secure, online reminder service, such as the one available from American Greetings. They’ll even notify you when it’s time to send e-card! Score some extra points and surprise your sister-in-law with a thoughtful card after forgetting for the last five years. Shock your mother and send a card before her actual birthday arrives.

4. Organize the Address Book

Did you have trouble getting Christmas cards out this year because of your messy address book? Was the last time you updated your address book when you got married 10 years ago? Streamline your outdated efforts by keeping all of your family and friends’ information logged in a simple and secure online address book, so sending holiday cards will be as painless as it has ever been. You can conveniently access your address books at work or at home, allowing you to update your files whenever you get an opportunity.

5. Enjoy Life More

Bring more balance to your life by simplifying your daily schedule and prioritizing what you enjoy most. Take up a new hobby: try a creative project. American Greetings has a wide variety of projects that allow you to utilize your creative juices, from making your own business cards to personalizing your own stationary and more. Express your inner art student and impress your friends with your latest artistic creation.

6. Lend a Hand

Step outside of yourself and give some of your time to help those around you. By committing to a cause that is in line with your core values, you will be more likely to stay involved and feel rewarded by the experience. Since many of us lack time, take a moment to send a breast cancer awareness card or other inspirational greeting to help lift someone’s spirit during a challenging time. You will feel better about yourself after helping make someone’s day brighter.

7. Manage Your Finances

Set a realistic plan to allow yourself greater financial freedom, alleviate financial headaches and start saving for future goals. Make an effort to limit unnecessary drains on your wallet by tracking your finances online. Begin logging all of your expenses for the month and see how quickly those delicious lattes add up. Free greeting cards are a great way to save money and allow you to dedicate the savings toward something fun. Hawaii anyone?

8. Learn to Cook & Dine in More Often

In tandem with number 7, start spending less money on dining out. Pledge to dine in more or find a cooking class to satisfy your unending cravings for ethnic cuisines. Get new recipes emailed to you and experiment cooking new dishes in the comfort of your own kitchen. For an added touch of you, print your favorites on personalized recipe cards.

9. Make Memories

Do you always complain that you don’t have any recent pictures of you and your college buddies? Has another office get-together come and gone without any proof that you were there? Take out the old memory box and compile some old pictures. Create a printable ecard and complete it by inserting a favorite photo to commemorate the good old times and send to a friend for that special occasion. Or, if remembering your camera is the problem, buy an inexpensive disposable camera to leave in your car or purse, so you will have it with you wherever you go. Print the pictures on CD so next year you can send a personalized photo Christmas card.

10. Reduce Your Vices

In a perfect world, there would be no battle against biting your nails, eating unhealthy food, drinking too much caffeine and a myriad of other terrible habits. Experts say that when you feels the urge to engage the in bad habit, try to busy yourself with another activity. Instead of hitting the office coffee pot again, try sending an e-card when you have an urge and will also help you achieve number 1 by keeping in touch with friends and family.