I don’t do New Year’s resolutions. I like to set goals for myself and don’t see the point in waiting until January 1st to get started. However, New Year’s is always a reminder to pause and see how I’m doing with my many plans for myself.

While I’m not up for resolutions, I started thinking I could set an intention for the year. You know, that thing where you pick a single word and make it a goal for the next 365 days? It’s been hot with artists and other creative people for a number of years now. In the past, I haven’t done it because I figured it would take a lot of thinking to choose my word. I was wrong. It was easy. The word came to me at once.

Relax.

I need to get better at relaxing. I need to plan more breaks and vacations, get to more yoga classes, meditate more, and take time to watch paint dry. (Sounds a little stressful when I put it like that…)

An easy first step is to cut down on how much time and energy I spend worrying about things. Here are ten things I’ve been known to stress about that I am not going to worry about this year*.

Ten Things I Am Not Going To Worry About Anymore

1) A comet hitting the earth
2) That no one reads anymore (and here I am, spending all my time writing books and blog posts)
3) That the exercise I can do without hurting myself isn’t intense enough
4) The zombie apocalypse
5) That the throw quilt I’m making doesn’t match a single thing in our living room
6) That I’m only correct about which way is left 50% of the time
7) Who is going to win the presidential election
8) That whichever volcano I’m closest to right now is going to explode
9) That other dogs are laughing at my poodle’s home haircut
10) That my idea of style isn’t actually stylish

I can think of more things to add to this list, but I better start with ten. I wouldn’t want to overwhelm myself and completely undermine my goal to relax.

*Assuming I remember not to.

What is your plan for the New Year? Are there any worries you would like to give up?