If you’re anything like me, you probably find yourself daydreaming about improving your life in this upcoming year. Taking up new hobbies, saving money, working out – it’s easy to sit around and dream up schemes to be a better you, but it can be difficult to put these plans in action. Make 2009 the year you finally get up and get moving on all those things you’ve been meaning to accomplish.

Get Healthy

1. Exercise regularly. Walking, running, or jogging is good when the weather’s nice, but during the wintertime, you need to give yourself other options. Joining a gym is your best route, naturally – training with free weights increases your muscle mass, which allows you to burn more calories when you’re doing aerobic workouts or just sitting around. But if you can’t get to a gym, consider making your own. Even if you have a small amount of money and a small amount of space, it’s very possible to buy one or two good, lightly-used pieces of equipment on classified sites like craigslist. Take advantage of a local gym’s free trial membership, or just tag along with a friend who can admit guests, and try out several types of equipment to see what you like. Whether you’re a fan of stairsteppers, treadmills, or elliptical trainers, you’ll be able to find a model that suits your space and budget.

2. Control your eating. Metabolism is part of the picture, but chances are, if you’re packing on pounds that means you’re eating a lot more than you realize. A casual glance at the calorie contents of your favorite snacks and ingredients just isn’t enough – not until you sit down and evaluate serving sizes, fiber, sugars, and other important factors that can make all the difference. And even that might not be enough. Most of us need additional motivation to stick to healthy eating habits, and while attending meetings can be helpful, not everyone is able to find the time. That’s where online diet aids like eDiets come in. For prices as low as $17.96 per month, you can choose to go with the basic eDiets weight loss plan, which focuses on smart carbs and lean protein, the famous low-carb high-fiber Atkins diet (which eliminates calorie-counting), or the Glycemic Impact Diet, which gives you plenty of energy and combats irritability and mood swings.

Get Debt-Free

3. Evaluate your spending. Chances are, you’re wasting a lot of money in places you don’t even realize. Even if you consider yourself to be a fairly frugal person, there are always ways to trim costs. A place like BillShrink can help you figure out some wallet-leaks you might have missed. For one thing, you are likely paying more than you need to for cell phone service. With BillShrink, you can either import your current bill or just manually estimate your monthly costs and usage. With this information, BillShrink will let you know what plans might be available in your area that would make sense for you. And if those exorbitant cell phone bills have you saddled with credit card debt, BillShrink can help with that too. You might also be sitting on money you didn’t realize you had – if you own a home, this might be the perfect time to refinance your mortgage. Look into your options.

4. Cut costs where you can. There’s plenty of resources for reducing your grocery and utility bills, but when it comes to entertainment costs, it can be hard to figure out where to draw the line. Eliminating entertainment completely is a terrible idea, so how can you keep yourself occupied, amused, and plugged into pop culture without breaking the bank? Netflix is a great option for those who tend to blind-buy DVDs and throw them into a pile, never to be watched again. For as little as $8.99 per month, you can have unlimited access to their massive selection of DVDs and instantly-streaming movies to your computer or your T.V. (with a special box or Xbox 360 console with a Live Gold subscription). If your movie and T.V.-watching habits don’t justify something of this sort, then seek out websites like Hulu that allow you to watch streaming video for free. Their selection of movies and episodes changes daily, and you’ll never be short of great entertainment.

Get Richer

5. Making extra money online can be a dangerous game, but if you know how to play it, it can really pay off. Before you sign up for anything that promises to pay you for a small amount of effort, research it. Just plug the name of the company or website into Google and see what comes up. Not every freelance opportunity on a site like craigslist is going to be legitimate, but some sites, such as Elance, are geared towards people with specific skills. If you’re a whiz at programming or social networking, check out their job listings or offer your services. If your skills are more general-purpose, then a site like Expo TV, which pays you to post artfully-done video reviews of products from DVDs to strollers, or ChaCha, which pays you to research and answer questions sent in by text-message, might be for you. Look into what works and try it out.

6. If you’ve got something to offer, then market it! Your blog or website isn’t much use to you if nobody else knows about it, so get involved in networking and affiliate marketing to make the most of your site. LinkedIn is a social networking site designed specifically for professionals, while ProBlogger has plenty of tips to help you grow your blog. Sites like Google Adsense, Linkshare, and Commission Junction can help you monetize your site once you have people coming in.

Get Educated

7. Online learning is a great way to take advantage of top-notch education without sacrificing your career or family life. Some colleges, such as the University of Phoenix, have developed an extensive online learning program that allows you to enroll and take classes without ever leaving your home. Whether you want to become more well-rounded or earn a specific degree for your career, this might be the way to do it. U of Phoenix isn’t your only option – look into local schools that might offer the same sorts of opportunities.

8. And as long as you’re researching local schools, think about spending some time on campus. Community colleges are geared towards people who need to work around busy schedules. Even if you work long shifts at unusual times, you should be able to find interesting, useful classes that fit in with your lifestyle. You can pursue a specific field of study that leads you to nursing, accounting, or another career – or you can just round out your education.

Here’s to 2009. Let’s make it the best year yet!

Popularity: 3% [?]