A friend and I had a conversation last New Year’s Eve over a bottle of wine (of course), about the things we would like to do in the coming year. We talked about everything from the obvious (such as keeping fit and healthy) to the more obscure, like joining a choir and forming a book club.

Of all these things, I would not have put money on my one and only achievement being to join a choir. It was more my friend’s desire than mine, but a request from my eldest daughter to sing in church prompted us to join the family mass choir. We sing once a month and it is something we have both stuck to and enjoyed.

I think that regardless of whether you truly intend to make and stick to resolutions, it can still be interesting and fun to have the conversation about what you would like to get out of the year to come.

As for the rest of my goals, some I achieved, others I didn’t. I certainly failed when it came to keeping fit. In fact, this is one of my worst years on record. I attempted to start running, but fell ill in January and never really got into it. Then I started an exercise class and managed to go weekly until the summer, when the children broke up from school and I didn’t have any child free days in which I could go.

When you get out of the habit of exercising, it is easy to make up excuses why you shouldn’t bother. I know I am guilty of this and I need to get back to doing something on a regular basis in 2014.

Up until July my youngest child was still at preschool, so my time was limited. Even so, I was able to get into a routine of writing, building up my copywriting portfolio and working on my book. I hoped to finish my book and get it published and once my son started school in September, I wanted to sort out my website, for the business side of my writing.

At the end of this year, the Website is done (tick) and the book is finished (tick). But I didn’t manage to publish it, so that will be going on the top of the list for 2014. As for the rest of my list, I would like to devote more time to my copywriting business, as well as completing book number 2. Add this to all the exercise I will be doing and it looks as though I’m going to be a busy girl!

So that’s work and personal health aims covered. In terms of my family life, I would love to be more patient with my children. I will have to work really hard on this one though, as their incessant nagging can be so trying at times. At the end of the school day they have so much to tell me, but they get frustrated at having to compete with each other for air time. Add that to being tired and I find that the walk home from school regularly descends into anarchy, as we all end up falling out with each other.

It’s something that we need to get used to now that the three of them are at school full time. It means that I will have to work out how to split myself three ways so that they each feel as though they get an equal amount of my time. Makes for an interesting challenge.

So, that’s my goals for next year sorted and I intend do my very best to achieve them. After all we all start the year with the very best of intentions don’t we? And there’s really nothing wrong with that in my opinion.

Will you be having this conversation on New Year’s Eve this year? If so I wish you luck to achieve all your goals for the coming year too.