Here comes the new year, hopefully not the same as the old year

2016 has been a pretty tempestuous year. I, for one, am glad to see it's almost over. Here's hoping that 2017 will be better.

It's time to set goals for 2017. Not just any old goals, but S.M.A.R.T. goals. What are S.M.A.R.T. goals, I hear you asking? S.M.A.R.T. stands for:

• S - Specific
• M - Measurable
• A - Attainable
• R - Relevant
• T - Time-bound

I recommend this site if you want more information about setting S.M.A.R.T. goals.

Of course, you don't have to use this format for goals, but it does help when you're trying to figure out exactly what you want to do and formulate a plan for how you want to do it. Don't forget to periodically check on your progress and adjust your goal as necessary, too. You don't want to get too stressed out about not reaching your goal because part of the progress took longer than you thought it would, or you were using the wrong measurement standard.

If your goal is to build better habits or break old ones, then I highly recommend Habitica RPG. This is a great tool that gives you instant feedback on the habits you are trying to build by making it into an RPG game where you gain XP for completing daily tasks, and lose HP if you fail to complete a task or indulge in a bad habit you are trying to break. You can fight bosses and hook up with other players to offer each other support toward a goal. Naturally, you have to remember to log in every day to check off your dailies and stuff, but you can do so either from the computer or from your smartphone. You also earn rewards - both bonuses from the site and rewards that you can set yourself and then set a cost for using in-game currency (ex: Watch an episode of your favorite t.v. show - 20 Gold coins) which are earned for completing dailies, checking off to-do list items, and making progress on developing good habits.

So, faithful readers, what are your goals for 2017?