At the beginning of each year, many of us begin to reflect on our lives and start to set goals for the new year. However many resolutions fail within the first couple of weeks due to the lack of an effective plan with specific goals. Do yourself a favor this year: Do NOT resolve to lose weight! ... Instead, pick two or three habits that could easily result in weight loss.

Life is but a fleeting moment in time, and if you want to live a life of purpose, here are two habits that can truly make an impact on your future.

“If I'd known I was going to live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself.” ~ Mickey Mantle, 1995

Habit One: Take better care of your health now.
It's common for people to look back on their life when facing an illness, heart condition, or perhaps relying on an oxygen tank to breathe, and wonder why they didn't take better care of themselves. As we age, daily activities become more burdensome, they require more energy, and are an indicator that life quality is declining. If you want to have a good and strong quality of life or lifelong vitality, it's up to you to make small changes that will add up to big differences.

Thanks to advances in medicine, human beings are living longer than our ancestors. Unfortunately, we are living faster than our ancestors did. Working the land, which provided good nutrition and adequate exercise, is no longer the norm. We tend to eat on the run, conduct business on the run, relationship on the run. While we may be busier, we are not more active.

The time to slow the pace is now! Savor the day and the evening. Take care of your health, your body and your mind. Drink more water, get regular checkups, stretch your body and fill your mind.

“Every minute you are angry, you lose 60 seconds of happiness” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Habit Two: Learn to let go of anger.
Let go of the anger. Anger is a useless emotion that is a waste of time, energy, and can rob you of happiness. Anger sucks the living life out of you. Anger makes a body sick. If you recall from an earlier article, healthy cells reproduce into healthy cells; while sick cells reproduce into sick cells.

Anger will kill any drive you have, that you could have used in more productive and positive pursuits. Anger is a solo activity. Anger doesn't play well with others. It interferes with success. So where there is anger, there can be no success.

Think about your goals and dreams. Think about all the people rooting for you at this moment. Now, think about how selfish it would be for you not to continue to strive for your dreams because of how angry you are. You are someone's role model. Stop wasting your time being angry, and live your life!

Finding ways to work through anger in a healthy way will give you much more time for happiness and creating wonderful memories with family and loved ones.

Always remember, you are not in competition with anyone. This is your own personal journey. It is up to you to decide your worth, and since you are reading this article, I feel confident in saying that you have already decided to do better for yourself and for your family.

I'd like to know what habits you've chosen to implement or change this year. Hop on over to the forum!