join the counter-resolution!

So, it's been 2010 for five whole days. And when you're not thinking about how twenty-ten sounds all cool and futuristic, you're probably feeling guilty and anxious about those pesky New Year's resolutions you've made and, most likely, already broken.

But all is not lost. If you're tired of resolutions that you just can't manage to keep, there's still time to make a fresh start with counter-resolutions, a brand-new and exciting concept developed by yours truly.

Problem: New Year's resolutions

Solution: Niobe's Counter-Resolutions®

Those bad habits? Well, they're called habits for a reason. Instead of trying to fight them, embrace them. In other words, promise yourself you're going to do something that you're likely to do anyway. Here's how it works:

• Old-fashioned resolution: Work out three times a week.



• New and Improved Counter-Resolution®: Join a pricy gym in January. Buy lots of expensive work out outfits. Twist your ankle during your first spinning class. Decide to skip classes for the month of February so your ankle can heal. You'll start again in March April after Memorial Day. In October, call your credit card company to ask what the heck is this $89 charge that keeps showing up every month.





• Old-fashioned resolution: Carpe diem (literally "seize the day"). Live mindfully. Cultivate an attitude of gratitude. Count your many blessings.



• New and Improved Counter-Resolution®: Carp diem (literally "whine all day") Complain. Vent. Work on making that all-compassing list of the faults and irksome behaviors of your partner/relatives/friends
  /coworkers/kids/houseplants.

Basically, it's win/win. You'll feel good about making a counter-resolution that you can actually follow through on. And on the off chance you don't keep your counter-resolution, well, you can feel good about that too.

So, post your counter-resolutions here, anonymously, if you'd like. And, unless I forget, we can check once in a while to see how they're working out for you.