This past December, we shared some advice on Unclutterer about creating New Year’s resolutions. When deciding on a resolution(s) for the new year, keep three things in mind: acknowledge your feelings, have a plan, and take your time. As we mentioned, your plan don’t need to be rock solid by January 1.
Once you’ve decided on goals to work toward, you can focus on these five tips for success:
- Stay positive
- Lean on a support team
- Choose goals wisely
- Take on one goal at a time
- Focus on more ambitious goals over the long term
Today, I’ll share some software that will help you realize your annual goals, focusing on the most common resolutions, according to USA.gov:
- Drink less alcohol
- Eat healthy food
- Get a better education
- Get a better job
- Get fit
- Lose weight
- Manage debt
- Manage stress
- Quit smoking
- Reduce, reuse and recycle
- Save money
- Take a trip
- Volunteer to help others
Many of these are similar, and I’ve combined those to create this master list:
- Get healthy
- Earn more money
- Become a better citizen
- Travel
Here are some examples of hardware and software to help you achieve each of those goals.
Get Healthy
Every January, millions of people vow to improve their health by either losing weight, adopting a healthier diet, or exercising regularly. It’s a great goal, as a heathy body and mind often means a longer, more enjoyable life. The health and fitness market is full of gadgets. Here are a few to get you started.
Bodyweight Training: You Are Your Own Gym for iPhone and iPad ($2.99). This app is remarkable in how comprehensive it is. It features over 200 videos demonstrating exercises that can all be performed with equipment you already have at home. There’s no need to buy an expensive gym membership. You’ll find guided exercise programs for all fitness levels, as well as timers to keep you on track. It’s great for when your traveling, too.
Nike+ Fuel Band ($149). The Nike+ line of fitness products are all connected to the Internet, for easy tracking of your performance and sharing with your friends. The Fuel Band is a bracelet with an accelerometer that tracks the number of steps you take and calories you burn each day. Set a goal and see how close you come. You can track and share your progress with friends via a browser or the optional iPhone app. There are even fun challenges to aim for, called “Missions,” presented as a sort of game.
MyFitnessPal (Free) MyFitnessPal offers a free calorie counter for the iPhone, iPad, Android smartphones, Blackberrys and Windows phone. It’s got a massive database of foods and drinks that let you track exactly how many calories you take in per day. You can also network with friends who are using the program, which helps to provide you with a community of support. Plus, it looks good.
Earn More Money
I can’t start this section without thinking of those Sally Struthers ads from the ’90s. “Do you want to make more money? Sure, we all do.” Here’s some software to help you stay on top of your finances.
iTunes U (Free). When I was young I was taught that the key to a good-paying, enjoyable job was education. Now, Apple lets me take a course on almost anything right from iTunes. iTunes U is a collection of educational resources put out by some of the nation’s top schools. You’ll find courses on a huge variety of subjects, from business to cooking to the arts and literature, law, math and science. Download any to your iPad and get learning.
Mint.com (Free) Mint is a fantastic finance and budget management suite of software. It’s available for the iPhone, iPad, Android tablets and Mac. It also works right in your browser, so Windows users can use it, too. Mint helps you track spending, follow a budget, set financial goals and more. Connect it to your bank and add any account you have, loans, retirement savings and more. Plus, it’s beautiful and generates nice-looking reports.
Become a Better Citizen
This often gets overlooked, but it’s great for your community and sense of self-satisfaction. Here are a couple of solutions to help you create and track all sorts of goals.
Everest for iPhone (Free) “Everyone’s got their Everest. Climb yours.” That’s a great slogan for a clever app. Everest lets you create goals and, more importantly, break them down into a series of small, achievable steps. Each goal, or “dream” as the app calls them, features an inspirational image. There are many to choose from, and you can even upload your own.
Lifetick (Free or $20 per year for the premium service) This app is different in that it starts by helping you identify your core values. Next, you create goals that are in line with each one. It’s an interesting way to approach goal setting. From there you create tasks for each goal and a timeline to keep track of all of them. Plus the web app is really beautiful.
Travel
Kayak Hands down my favorite travel app. It’s is as close to a portable travel agent as you’re going to get. It handles everything, from finding a flight to hotels, car rentals, attractions, things to do, and much more. Kayak polls several top travel sites and airlines for flights that match your criteria. The results can be filtered by airline, number of stops, airport, price and duration. You can also sort by cost, duration and departure time (leaving soonest). There’s an app for the iPhone, iPad, Android phones, Windows phone and Kindle Fire.
There you have it. I hope there’s something here to inspire you to an exciting, fulfilling 2013. Good luck!
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