Every December I start to think of resolutions for the new year. And I seem to make the same ones.

It’s my overly critical attitude toward myself — blame my Catholic upbringing — that urges me to make changes.

I can be thinner, I can be smarter, I can make better use of my spare time. (Meaning, I can stop watching “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” — and as reruns!)

But I think I’ve been making the wrong resolutions.

See, I tend to want the same things — lose weight, better life balance, whatever — but I focus too much on the end result and now on the process to get there.

So if I want to lose weight, I should resolve things like, “Eat just one dessert a day.” And if I want better life balance, maybe I need to think about changes like, “Leave work on time” or “Have lunch with a friend once a week.”

I went over my tired list of resolutions and decided to chuck them.

If I never reached them by now, why would 2013 be any different?

So I resolve to do the following:

• Drink more water. I could go days without drinking water. I’m not kidding. It’s not good.
• Participate in at least one race this year. I used to run 5Ks all the time. And I was even in a triathlon craze for awhile. But for the past two years, I haven’t done much but fill out the registration form for the Honolulu Marathon. This year, though, I’m going to finish something.
• Floss. This is made even more important considering I don’t have a dentist.
• Be nice to myself. I know that may sound intangible and even a bit therapist-driven, but it’s high time I starting being a little nicer to myself. I deserve that new camera!

Wish me luck!