1. Find more time for my writing. I love to write—or I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing today—but I hardly ever write for myself. I feel extremely lucky that I get to do what I love every day, but when I get home from work, the last thing I want to do is sit in front of my computer and write. That's really a shame, though, because my head is filled with so many ideas for poems, lyrics, short stories and novels, and I owe it to myself to put them on paper. In 2009, I resolve to write something not work-related every day—even if I have to write it in longhand. Who knows? Maybe I could even pen the next "Twilight" or "Harry Potter"? Ok, that's a little ambitious, but a girl's gotta dream ...

2. Build a better work-life balance. I have lots of interests outside of work, but life gets so busy that I don't always embrace them. In 2009, I'd like to learn how to become a better juggler of life. I'd love to make it to my 6 p.m. spin class on Mondays, cook dinner for friends on Tuesdays, do volunteer work on Wednesdays, ect. While this might require taking my gym bag with me to work or dusting off my crock pot to prepare for dinner parties, it's possible; it just takes thinking ahead!

3. Focus on the big picture. I've always been a detail-oriented person, so it's easy for me to get so enmeshed in the little things that I lose sight of the bigger picture. In 2009, I vow to broaden my perspective. When you invest a lot of time in a project, it's easy to get upset when things don't work out like you envisioned, but I'm going to try to not let the minutia get to me and focus on what really matters: family, friends, a job well done and a life well lived.

May 2009 bring you and yours all you've wished and hoped for! And as 19th century novelist George Eliot once said, remember: "It is never too late to be what you might have been."