New Year’s Resolutions: A Time For Making Plans

January is the time to think about all those things we’ve put off doing year after year, like making a plan to get out of debt, or thinking about how we’ll respond to an emergency. Perhaps now is the time to put some thought into making our New Year’s resolutions.

Why plan? Well, for one thing, it helps you focus on what needs to be done. Having a plan, especially a written plan, means you’re serious about tackling those issues. After all, you’ve invested time and thought in them.

So, where do you start? You might first want to look at creating an advanced directive for health care if you don’t already have one. If you already have one, then it’s a good idea to review it to make sure it’s up to date. If you don’t have one, there are many different samples online that you can use to decide what you want as far as decision-making. Who do you trust enough to make decisions about your health care? Who would be willing to make those decisions for you? Ask if they are willing to be your patient advocate.

Once that one’s out of the way, how about creating an emergency preparedness plan? Think about what you might need in a disaster in regard to your disability and then how you might go about meeting those needs.

This might also be a good time to complete your Smart911 profile online or update it if it already exists. Do you have new information to put in, or old information that needs to be updated? Now is the time!

You might also want to spend some time thinking about what goals you’d like to achieve this year. Do you need to catch up on your bills (most of us do), or learn something new? Why not sign up for that class or take a look at your budget to see if you can pay a little more on your largest bill to start paying it off.

While none of us want to put a lot of thought into these things, they are usually lurking in our subconscious minds anyway, so maybe it’s time to address them once and for all and get working on them. After all, they aren’t likely to improve on their own!

January is a time for new beginnings. Let this be your time to make your life better, safer, and less stressful. Go ahead…make a plan!

If you need assistance, please call DNL at 616-396-5326. We’d be glad to help you!