Life resolutions starting now

No New Year's resolutions for me. I'm not interested in being part of the majority who commits to a new way of life, only to fail. If I'm going to commit to change, I want it to stick. So below are several commitments I've made to myself that my friends and family are welcome to hold me accountable to. And perhaps it's just a symantics game, but I'm not calling these New Year's resolutions, they're life resolutions.

- Pare down. If 2007 was the year to de-clutter, it was just a start. I'm committed to eliminating physical clutter and unnecessary material items which only lead to mental clutter.

- Make running a habit. Since Thanksgiving I've added an extra 15 pounds, and that needs to go permanently.

- Travel more for leisure.

- Reduce my exposure to media/news, more mental clutter.

- Invest more in my community. I need to practice what I preach to my girls.

- Manage my ADHD rather than having it manage me. Two years ago I switched from Adderall to Dexedrine, and while effective, Dexedrine just isn't working as well as Adderall XR did.

- Simplify my investments. For me this means moving cash investments from individual stocks to index funds. This will help avoid mistakes like NovaStar, down 97% over the last 2 years, despite its hefty dividend (recently discontinued). I'd rather have base hits than strike out swinging for the home runs.