Are New Year's Resolutions worth it?

I'm having a bit of a struggle this year, I want to make some New Year's Resolutions, I really do, but when I've done them in the past, I have not followed through on them.  Not only that, but all of the things that I want to change are cliche, lose weight, spend more time with my family, try new things, etc, etc, etc...

Then I started thinking (which is generally a very bad thing for me to do).  What is the value of having New Year's Resolutions?  Is it simply to create a wish list of things that you want to do and to never look at again?  Of course that can't be it.  Retrospectives and resolutions are something that many of us do in business on an annual basis, but they're called Performance Reviews and Goal Setting.  Those of you who participate in them know that the Performance Review part can be pretty difficult to either give or receive, and that Goal Setting can be useless, unless the 2 are tied together and reviewed regularly.  When the 2 are done properly and taken seriously then they are powerful tools in getting a manager and a staff member to work on the same page together.

Thinking about all of that, I'm going to put together some resolutions and share them with you.  I also intend to come back to them multiple times over the next year and share my progress with you.  In fact, that is one of my resolutions.  Here is my list:

1. Forgive myself.  It's time I learn that I am a human being and human beings make mistakes
2. Lose at least 20 lbs.  Yes, it is a cliche, and many of you have cheered me on when I've been successful in the past.  My father-in-law has set a recent great example by losing a significant amount of weight and I am going to use that for inspiration. 
3. Exercise at least 3x per week. That is critical for resolution 2 but it is also important for me emotionally.  Mornings when I exercise I just feel better.
4. Attend morning services 1 - 2 days per week.  When I was saying Kaddish for my parents I was at services almost every day and it helped me, why shouldn't I continue doing that for me?
5. Write more.  I started this blog a few years ago and let it drop.  There is no reason for me to not carve out the hour or so per week that writing this blog takes.  I enjoy doing it and it makes me feel good.
6. Make more time for my family and friends.  I have local friends that I don't see nearly enough, it's time to change that.
7. Do something new.  Pretty self explanatory, I don't know what it is yet.
8. Be a better husband and father.  This is the most important resolution I can make.  To quote Apollo 13, "Failure is not an option"

I think that this is a pretty solid list of challenges for me to accomplish in 2014.  Each and every one of them are doable and taken together they will help me be a better person.