Have you made your New Year's resolutions? Have you broken any of them yet?

Well, what are you waiting for? Why wait until January to start breaking your New Year's resolutions?

We're a country in a hurry. Christmas begins sometime around Halloween now. The states have been elbowing one another to be first in line to hold a presidential primary, for what reason I'm not sure. And apparently you can pay money now to skip ahead in the security line at the airport. If we're on the same flight, does that mean your part of the plane will leave before mine because it takes me longer to have my toothpaste confiscated?

In this hurry up and get where you're going so you can head off to wherever you're going next world, you're not really trying if you wait until January to make and break your New Year's resolutions. After all, we have Easter to worry about in January. And if you're not going to wait until January to make your resolutions, you certainly don't need to wait until then to break them.

Actually, I've always been ambivalent about New Year's resolutions. How do you improve on perfection? Oh, never mind, perfection's not a problem for me.

Permission For Bad Behavior: Post-Dated Resolutions

Sometimes I like to post-date my resolutions, like a check I write today with next Tuesday's date on it with the understanding you won't cash it until then because there won't be any money in the bank until then. By the way, can UPI cash a check for me? I'm good for it. Next Tuesday. Really.

But back to post-dated resolutions. I'll resolve to give up donuts beginning next week. Now, it's time for a trip to the bakery to pick up a few donuts.

A little side trip while I'm off getting donuts. Have you developed your PR plan for 2008? Ironically, a lot of people who take time to make New Year's resolutions that they're going to be ignoring within a few weeks never seem to get around to making one set of resolutions they should make and keep -- what they're going to do on the job during the coming year.

Of course, if you spend all your time putting out fires while drinking from the fire hose, it's a little hard to imagine coming up with a real plan for the year. But you'll never get beyond the fires and the fire hose without a clear plan for what you want to accomplish and why. Just a thought.

I'm back. The donuts were great. And guilt free. Since I'm giving them up beginning next week, it's okay to have them now. In fact, it's important to have them now because I'm going to give them up beginning next week.

Trying To Be Perfect Is Not Much Fun

This year I've decided to do something different. I'm going to quit making Puritan resolutions -- resolving to quit doing all those “bad” things I do and start doing those "good" things I always intend to do but don't. More trips to the gym instead of catching an extra hour of snooze time, for example.

This year all my resolutions are going to be about doing things that will bring more joy and happiness to my life. It appears I'm not alone. "Find Happiness" is the most-recommended category of resolutions recommended in the media -- accounting for nearly half the total. Losing weight, which I would have guessed would lead the pack, limped in at just 10 percent.¹

So, here are couple items from my list. I've always wanted to go to Carlsbad Caverns. Maybe I'll just jump in my car some weekend and go do it. I resolve to eat more ice cream. Okay, somebody already put that one in a book. But it's still a good idea. In fact, that whole "eat dessert first because you might die" approach to life is worth doing, I think.

I also resolve to be flawed next year. Trying to be perfect isn't much fun.

I hope you have a happy new year. How can you do that if you make a bunch of resolutions to give up things you like and do things you don't really want to do? I encourage you instead to resolve to be happy. What do you have to do to keep that resolution? Go for it.

Happy holidays! I hope whichever holidays you celebrate bring you and yours a lot of joy and happiness. And I hope you have a very Blue New Year. Not blue as in sad. But blue as in . . . well, let me count the ways.

• In many cultures blue has religious significance and is believed to keep bad spirits away.
• Blue is the most popular color – and the least gender specific. It has equal appeal to men and women.
• Fashion consultants recommend wearing blue to job interviews because it symbolizes loyalty. It’s also seen as trustworthy, dependable and committed.
• People are more productive in blue rooms. Weightlifters are able to lift heavier weights in blue gyms.
• Blue is the color of the sky and the ocean. And this blue marble traveling through space that we all live on is the inspiration for the name of our company.

Which brings me to my selfish reason for wishing you a Very Blue New Year. I hope you’ll have a very Blue year because Blue Marble Enterprises is part of your success early and often in 2008.

All my best to you for a fantastic new year,

Debi Parcheta
President, Blue Marble Enterprises