In December, there are parties being held at work, for the organizations with which you are affiliated (v.隶属于), at the homes of your family and friends, and in various other locations. As we attend each party, we overindulge in（放纵） things like drinking, merriment, spending, and eating. When the end of the month rolls around（流逝）, the festivities begin to wrap up（结束）and we’re faced with the one last hooray for the year as we attend our New Year’s Eve party.
As the talk begins of what your resolution may be, you start to think of all the things that you’ve done over the past month. Your pants might be fitting a little too tight now, or you may be thinking of the organization（此处解释为空间布置 space management/moving things around）that is needed in your home as you try to figure out a new place to put all the wonderful gifts you’ve received. In that wave of desperation, a New Year’s Resolution is formed and uttered from your lips in front of your family and friends.
As January is brought in with gusto, we awake to a new day, a new year, and a new resolution. Every resolution begins with the same passion year after year; and unfortunately, year after year by the time February rolls around, that passion is replaced with apathy（n.失去热情和兴趣）.
Let’s start by looking at what makes a good resolution. New Year’s Resolutions should be S.M.A.R.T goals. They should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. If you try to establish a goal that results in a gradual change, you will be much more likely to succeed than if you try to position yourself within a goal that requires a drastic（adj.激烈的，猛烈的） change. For example, resolving to eat healthier by cutting out your nightly bag of chips would hold a higher rate of success than resolving to eat nothing but health food from now on.
