Let’s face it, New Year’s resolutions are pretty much crap. You feel like you need to do something healthy because you’ve been on a steady diet of gravy and cookies for a month, and you’re not making good decisions because you killed too many brain cells with champagne and your favorite winter ale. So you decide to make a resolution to do something over the course of the next year, and if you’re better than most people, you’ll maybe accomplish it for about two weeks.

I see it every year. I run a mountain biking group on meetup.com, and the time when the most people sign up for the group is right now in January. Want to guess how many of those people I see in spring when we start riding more? It’s about 1.5 (short people count as half).

New Year’s resolutions can actually be good though. They just require a few guidelines to be successful. They should:

Be immediately actionable

Have a limited time frame

Be realistic

Involve more commitment than just saying, “This year I’m gonna….”

So basically, act while your motivated, have a specific and attainable goal and commit to it. Here are some examples of crappy resolutions turned into good ones.

Crappy:  I want to get into better ski/snowboard shape this year.

Good: I will complete 10 boot camp classes by the end of February, which will get me into better ski/boarding shape.

(action: sign up and pay for that class now)

Crappy: I want to be able to ski/ride more challenging terrain.

Good: I’m going to take a lesson this month with an instructor who will teach me how to shred the Lake Chutes at Breckenridge.

(action: book that lesson now)

Crappy: I want to find new people to ski/ride with.

Good:  I’m going to join the Boulder Ski Club and commit to 3 events before February so I’ll meet new people.

(action: sign up and get those events on your calendar now. Also, take a bath and use deodorant.)

Crappy: I want to ski/ride some different mountains this year.

Good: I’m going to ski Telluride before March.

(action: book your trip and travel now)

Crappy: I want to work more and ski/board less this year.

Good:  Trick question, there is no way to turn that one around. It’s just crappy.

So there you go. Happy New Year. Now get out there and dedicate yourself to your passions, and make time for the things you love. Like skiing and snowboarding the best Colorado has to offer.