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Whoosh! That's the sound of 2017 flying by and coming to an end. The cool thing about New Year's Day 2018 is that it falls on a Monday. Most people like to start a new goal on Monday. But some see Monday as a holiday and will wait until Tuesday or the following Monday. It doesn't matter when you start your 2018 New Year's Resolution. The key is to start. Of course, most people tend to resolve to lose weight or exercise regularly. If you do one or both of these, try to start small. Too often, people set lofty goals and quit when they don't live up to them. Instead of a goal to work out for 30 minutes, try five minutes. Build up from there. Rather than aiming to lose 30 pounds, start small with something like eating out one less day a week. Here are more New Year's resolution ideas to help you make 2018 an amazing one for you. Learn something new Sign up for an online or in-person class. You'll be committed to sticking with it when register for something. Another option is to simply spend five to 10 minutes a day learning something new. This can be done by reading an article or two pages of a nonfiction book. Meditate Meditation can help reduce stress and improve your mood. It can be as simple as breathing deeply for one minute. There are apps that can remind you to meditate. Try it just for one minute a day. Then after sticking with it for a week, bump it up to two minutes. Cut calories This is the for "lose weight" group. Instead of focusing on weight, replace one item for another. Say you drink coffee with half-and-half every morning. Swap it out with skim milk or sugar-free almond milk. Someone who successfully lost weight started by taking half of his meal and putting it away for another meal. Read more Rather than shooting for one book a week or a month, set a goal for pages. One person said she would read at least one page a day no matter what. Some days she ended up reading a chapter or two. Save money Financial advisers recommend paying yourself first. You may be able to have your bank automatically transfer $50 (or whatever amount) from every paycheck into a savings account. Get that gourmet coffee drink every morning? Make your own coffee one day a week. Put the money you would've spent on gourmet coffee into a can. The next week, make your coffee two days and put away money. Get out more Internet and mobile devices make it easy to do everything from home. You can shop online and take online classes. It doesn't take much to discover you have not stepped outside your home in a few days. Take a walk down the street and back. Commit to one social event per month. Sleep more Most people don't get enough sleep. If you choose this goal, simply pick a time and get in bed five minutes before that time. That gives your mind time to settle down. No taking electronics with you. Once you conquer five minutes, try 10 minutes. Keep adding until you get to the time that gets you enough sleep. Cook one new thing You can expand your cooking skills by trying a new recipe once a week. Is there an ingredient you've never cooked? Find a recipe with that ingredient and cook away. Have a cooking appliance or tool that has never been used? Search for a recipe that uses it and give it a try. To be more successful, choose just one goal and start small. Get a few successes under the belt and then grow from there. If you discover that you're not sticking with the 2018 New Year's Resolution, change it to something smaller and more doable. No goal is ever too small to make a difference. Think about this African proverb. "If you think you are too small to make a difference, try spending the night in a closed room with a mosquito."