By now you’ve probably broken many of your new year’s resolutions. I’ve never really been a resolution type of girl, because I know I don’t stick to things. For me this year it’s exercise. I was doing well for several years, but over the last year it’s fallen by the wayside. I know I need to do it more, but I also know that if I resolve to, I won’t. So I didn’t make any resolutions.

Nevertheless, the new year is a new start, and so, if we can, we should take advantage of it. Don’t set yourself up for failure by aiming too high, but sometimes all we need is a push to do things a little bit differently, and to live out our priorities. So here are three ways that you aren’t likely to fail at that can actually change your life this year!

Priorities

1. Memorize Scripture

You know you’ve always wanted to, but you likely don’t know where to start. What do you memorize? And how do you memorize?

Last year around this time I wrote a post called the 50 Most Important Verses to Memorize, and everyday it gets a ton of hits still. So I’m going to send you there. It’s a great list, and honestly, if all you and your kids know are those 50 verses, you’ll be doing well.

Here’s what I suggest: take one verse a week and learn it. Write them on little verse cards, and at the dinner table, get them out and learn it. Break down the verse into its parts and say each part three times before moving on to the next part. Finally, say all the parts together three times. That tends to work! Just a few minutes each day while you’re together anyway. It will do you so much good!

2. Prioritize Your Marriage

I’ve talked about this before, but this year, make it a major goal to spend time with your husband, to laugh with your husband, and to nurture your marriage. Don’t let him come last on your priority list because you’re busy with so many other things. Make this one change, even if it involves saying no to other things, and I guarantee you that you will have more energy, more peace, and more excitement in 2012 because you will feel more intimate, less lonely, and more like a team.

Organization

3. Decide to Clean

One of the things that makes my life difficult is simple housework. When the house is neat and everything is in its place, life is easier. And when things are in their place, it’s easier to keep them that way.

The problem is getting the house to that state in the first place. I’ve found that once it’s cleaned I can keep it up, but when rooms just seem overwhelming, with too much stuff, I often give up.

So why not take the next 31 days and just get your house in order? It’s such a load of stress off of your mind to live in a more peaceful environment. And you don’t have to do it alone! Sarah Mae has written an awesome e-book 31 Days to Clean–Having a Martha House the Mary Way. It’s concentrating on how to get your house peaceful and organized and yes, CLEAN, without compromising your priorities of relationship and spiritual growth. She doesn’t want to turn you into a neat freak. She just wants to help you get the necessities out of the way so that life functions more smoothly.

It’s so inexpensive, and it’s such a great resource. Take the first part of 2012 to finally get your home organized so the rest of the year runs smoothly. Check it out here!

4. Get Organized

Have parties you need to plan? Lessons you need to organize? Do you want to keep track of your shopping lists and meal plans? How about your exercise schedule? Or your kids’ homework?

One thing that I’ve found works really well is to dedicate a binder to lists for myself. I put in my monthly calendar, my weekly to-do lists, my daily schedule, and then my meal plans and lesson plans for the kids. I also add goal sheets for different areas of my life and keep track of what I’m accomplishing and what I still need to do.

I’m just a list person. And maybe you’re not, but I encourage you to try it. If you’re always trying to find papers but they’re never in one place, or if you always feel like you’re flying by the seat of your pants, a little planning can change things.

What I do is every night I sit with my binder and look over the next day. I add things to the meal plan if I need to, or to the schedule. I write out my main priorities for the day. And then when the day comes, I know what I have to do and when I have to do it. It doesn’t actually take a lot of time, but it makes me feel like I have control over my life again.

A great tool for that is List Plan It, a membership service you can join where you can access and print out hundreds upon hundreds of lists that will help organize your life.

And they’ve offered to do a giveaway with us! You can win a membership with List Plan It–all you have to do is visit and then come back here and leave a comment about the list type that would help you the most (meal plan, goal sheets, freezer inventory, etc.). I’ll draw a winner for a membership on Sunday!

If you want to sign up, it’s not expensive. It’s just $20 a year to keep yourself completely organized. So check it out!

There you go–get your priorities in order, get your house in order, and then get organized. Do those things and maybe, just maybe, you’d actually have time to exercise, too :).

Now it’s your turn–leave a comment and tell me what you’d like from List Plan It for a chance to win! And tell me what you most need to change in 2012 to make your year awesome.

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