The Judy Niemeyer Team Blog

How to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions

New Year’s is the only holiday that celebrates the passage of time. Perhaps that’s why, as the final seconds of the year tick away, we become introspective. Inevitably, that introspection turns to thoughts of self-improvement and the annual ritual of making resolutions, which offer the first of many important tools for remaking ourselves. Here are the top twelve resolutions for most people:

1. Eat right, lose weight and get in better physical shape
2. Save or invest money
3. Stick to a budget/debt reduction
4. Enjoy more quality time with family & friends
5. Find a soul mate or just a date
6. Quit smoking and/or drinking
7. Find a better job, get promoted or start a business
8. Learn something new/further education
9. Give back: volunteer and help others
10. Get organized
11. Reduce stress, have more fun and enjoy life more
12. Travel for pleasure

Every year, we list our personal New Year’s resolutions and we know we need to change. The trouble is that fewer than 10% of people who set New Year’s resolutions actually achieve them, so those same resolutions will top next year’s list, too. We’ve all broken our share of New Year’s resolutions. Why are resolutions so difficult to keep and how can you ensure your success? Our resolutions often are something we feel we need to do, but not what we want to do. So how can you make this year truly different? Here are a few tips:

1. Take time to reflect. We have so many responsibilities, running from one to the next. It’s hard to find time for reflection, but it is what we need to do for something as important as setting goals.

2. Tune into your passions. We tend to notice what we’re not. We’re told we can do anything we put our mind to—so if we can’t do everything, we feel like failures. Focus on who you are, on producing a life you can enjoy. We’re all given talents. Focus on those. Before you decide on what you’ll take on for the year, make certain you are doing this goal for yourself. Aim for things that are truly important to you (vs. your mom, boyfriend, wife, boss, society), not what you think you ought to do or what others expect of you.

3. Pick a few goals—not twenty! Don’t overload yourself. It’s difficult enough for the average person to follow through on two or three ambitious New Year’s resolution; why on earth would you saddle yourself with more than you can handle? Choose the most pressing issue at hand—losing weight, improving your relationships, getting out of debt and saving money—and concentrate on those. Trying to do fifteen or twenty things simultaneously practically guarantees failure across the board.

4. Set realistic, yet achievable “stretch” goals. It goes without saying that most New Year’s resolutions are easier said (or written) than done—but if you set the bar way too high, you’re doomed from the start. Be realistic by setting achievable goals that stretch you to go further. Winning the lottery, for example, is out of your control. Saving money is totally in your power. Saving a little more than you think you can would be a stretch goal.

5. Commit. Make the decision that you will show up for your goals. If you’re contemplating putting a goal down that you always put down and never achieve, take a second look. How will this goal end differently this year? Find alternatives to a behavior that you want to change, and make this part of your resolution plan. So you want to quit smoking but you smoked to relax yourself? What other forms of relaxation are available to you?

6. Write goals down/make a plan. It’s a fact: writing down your goals gives you a higher chance of success. Describe your resolutions in specific terms. Instead of “I don’t want to be lazy,” opt for “I want to exercise regularly” or “I will cut down on my television watching.” Ensure success with a step-by-step plan. Work backwards by starting with the end vision of where you want to be and working backwards to where you are today. You’ll find an easy action plan to make your goals a reality.

7. Tell people/get accountability. Tell everyone you know. Talk to your spouse, best friend or family. One school of thought says that New Year’s resolutions are best kept to oneself, but look at it this way: the more people to whom you announce your resolution, the more people there will be to prod you along if you fall behind. Meet for lunch once a month with a group that will ask you, “So, how’s it going with your goal?”

8. Reward yourself. Following through on a New Year’s resolution is rarely easy, so a little Pavlovian conditioning goes a long way. Find ways to use regular rewards to pat yourself on the back and give yourself a little encouragement. Rewards create a feeling of doing something you want to do, not just what you’re forcing yourself to do. Even the smallest of rewards can work wonders as you move from milestone to milestone.

9. Focus with reminders. Once you’ve got your goals and plan in place, figure out ways to remind yourself. Some people post their goals in on their bathroom mirror or in their car. Others put reminders in their palm pilots or cell phones. Figure out what works for you.

10. Harness the power of emotion. When trying to change, you’re fighting a battle between emotion and logic. Focus on the good emotions—happiness, satisfaction, exhilaration—that you will feel if you achieve your goal. That’s how you can sustain your commitment to your goals. It’s about spending more time feeling good rather than feeling bad.

11. Believe and visualize yourself making the change. Visualization is a powerful process used by Olympic athletes, astronauts and great people throughout history. Visualize yourself on New Years Eve 2009 with all your goals achieved. What would that look like? How would it feel? Visualize once a day and see the difference it can make in your life.

12. Be brave and be persistent. It takes courage to move out of your comfort zone, but success breeds success. After you’ve made one change, you feel the passion and like it, because you have ventured out of your comfort zone and succeeded. You’re then motivated to make other changes. Even more importantly, you must be persistent. Don’t sweat the setbacks and don’t give up! Keep at it until you achieve the goals you set for yourself. It’s what you want, need and deserve. It may take a very short time and little effort, but more often, it takes persistent effort over time to change your life in any way.

The History of Christmas
The middle of winter has long been a time of celebration around the world. Centuries before the arrival of the man called Jesus, early Europeans celebrated light and birth in the darkest days of winter. Many peoples rejoiced during the winter solstice, when the worst of the winter was behind them and they could look forward to longer days and extended hours of sunlight.

In Scandinavia, the Norse celebrated Yule from December 21, the winter solstice, through January. In recognition of the return of the sun, fathers and sons would bring home large logs, which they would set on fire. The people would feast until the log burned out, which could take as many as 12 days. The Norse believed that each spark from the fire represented a new pig or calf that would be born during the coming year.

The end of December was a perfect time for celebration in most areas of Europe. At that time of year, most cattle were slaughtered so they would not have to be fed during the winter. For many, it was the only time of year when they had a supply of fresh meat. In addition, most wine and beer made during the year was finally fermented and ready for drinking.

In Germany, people honored the pagan god Oden during the mid-winter holiday. Germans were terrified of Oden, as they believed he made nocturnal flights through the sky to observe his people, and then decide who would prosper or perish. Because of his presence, many people chose to stay inside.

In Rome, where winters were not as harsh as those in the far north, Saturnalia—a holiday in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture—was celebrated. Beginning in the week leading up to the winter solstice and continuing for a full month, Saturnalia was a hedonistic time, when food and drink were plentiful and the normal Roman social order was turned upside down. For a month, slaves would become masters. Peasants were in command of the city. Business and schools were closed so that everyone could join in the fun.

Also around the time of the winter solstice, Romans observed Juvenalia, a feast honoring the children of Rome. In addition, members of the upper classes often celebrated the birthday of Mithra, the god of the unconquerable sun, on December 25. It was believed that Mithra, an infant god, was born of a rock. For some Romans, Mithra’s birthday was the most sacred day of the year.

In the early years of Christianity, Easter was the main holiday; the birth of Jesus was not celebrated. In the fourth century, church officials decided to institute the birth of Jesus as a holiday. Unfortunately, the Bible does not mention date for his birth (a fact Puritans later pointed out in order to deny the legitimacy of the celebration). Although some evidence suggests that his birth may have occurred in the spring (why would shepherds be herding in the middle of winter?), Pope Julius I chose December 25.

It is commonly believed that the church chose this date in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival. First called the Feast of the Nativity, the custom spread to Egypt by 432 and to England by the end of the sixth century. By the end of the eighth century, the celebration of Christmas had spread all the way to Scandinavia. Today, in the Greek and Russian orthodox churches, Christmas is celebrated 13 days after the 25th, which is also referred to as the Epiphany or Three Kings Day. This is the day it is believed that the three wise men finally found Jesus in the manger.

By holding Christmas at the same time as traditional winter solstice festivals, church leaders increased the chances that Christmas would be popularly embraced, but gave up the ability to dictate how it was celebrated. By the Middle Ages, Christianity had, for the most part, replaced pagan religion. On Christmas, believers attended church, then celebrated raucously in a drunken, carnival-like atmosphere similar to today’s Mardi Gras.

Each year, a beggar or student would be crowned the “lord of misrule” and eager celebrants played the part of his subjects. The poor would go to the houses of the rich and demand their best food and drink. If owners failed to comply, their visitors would most likely terrorize them with mischief. Christmas became the time of year when the upper classes could repay their real or imagined “debt” to society by entertaining less fortunate citizens.

In the early 17th century, a wave of religious reform changed the way Christmas was celebrated in Europe. When Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan forces took over England in 1645, they vowed to rid England of decadence and, as part of their effort, cancelled Christmas. By popular demand, Charles II was restored to the throne and, with him, came the return of the popular holiday.

The pilgrims, English separatists that came to America in 1620, were even more orthodox in their Puritan beliefs than Cromwell. As a result, Christmas was not a holiday in early America. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed in Boston. Anyone exhibiting the Christmas spirit was fined five shillings. By contrast, in the Jamestown settlement, Captain John Smith reported that Christmas was enjoyed by all and passed without incident.

After the American Revolution, English customs fell out of favor, including Christmas. In fact, Congress was in session on December 25, 1789, the first Christmas under America’s new constitution. Christmas wasn’t declared a federal holiday until June 26, 1870.

It wasn’t until the 19th century that Americans began to embrace Christmas. Americans re-invented Christmas, and changed it from a raucous carnival holiday into a family-centered day of peace and nostalgia.

As Americans began to embrace Christmas as a perfect family holiday, old customs were unearthed. People looked toward recent immigrants and Catholic and Episcopalian churches to see how the day should be celebrated. In the next 100 years, Americans built a Christmas tradition all their own that included pieces of many other customs, including decorating trees, sending holiday cards, and gift-giving.

Although most families quickly bought into the idea that they were celebrating Christmas how it had been done for centuries, Americans had really re-invented a holiday to fill the cultural needs of a growing nation. Christmas as we know it today is a Victorian invention of the 1860s. Probably the most celebrated holiday in the world, our modern Christmas is a product of hundreds of years of both secular and religious traditions from around the globe.

11 Reasons to List Your Home During the Holidays
As temperatures come down and Holiday decorations go up, some home buyers and sellers in most parts of the country turn their attention away from real estate.  Here in the Mobile Bay area, we have less cold weather than elsewhere, but there are still presents to be bought, decorations to be hung, and cookies to be baked. You may be thinking, "Who has time to buy or sell a home during the Holidays?".  Plus, families with children tend to buy and sell in the Spring and Summer months to avoid moving their kids to a new school in the middle of the school year.

So, if you’re thinking about listing your home right now, you may decide to wait.  Or if you’re already trying to sell your home, you may be inclined to take a "break" during this Holiday season and pick things back up in January.

But if you do, you’ll probably be making a mistake. Why? There are definite advantages of staying in the real estate market for the savvy seller when everyone else heads to the mall.

The number one reason is that your house is definitely NOT going to sell if it is not on the market! It is like playing the lottery or trying to win the cake in a cake walk—you cannot win if you don’t take the risk of buying a ticket.  If your home is not on the market, no one can buy it.  What is the advantage of that? You may be busy, but your Realtor does the work for you anyway.

This time of the year is actually a great time to have your home on the market. Just remember the basics. Have it well-priced. Make sure it is in good condition. Know that you have a strong marketing and advertising plan in place with your Realtor to get the word out. And do what you can to make it accessible to potential buyers.

With these things in place, you are more likely to have a quick sale, and you are not competing with all of the homes that will be on the market in the Spring.  Here are ten additional reasons to list your home now or keep it on the market if it is already listed:

1.  Motivated, Serious Buyers.  During any lull in the market, the less serious buyers tend to drop out.  Those that must find a home keep looking. Buyers that are out actively looking during the Holidays are serious and are ready to make a decision.  These are the best buyers to work with, unlike in the Spring, when everybody is out looking at homes and may or may not be ready to buy.

Many buyers deliberately choose to shop for a home after the busy Spring and Summer rush. They know that it will be easier to look, and that negotiations will be less stressful. They may not have children, or they may have grown children, so moving to accommodate the school year isn’t a consideration. Finding the right home at the right price, however, is.

2.  Less Competition.  You may have fewer actual showings, but more qualified and motivated prospects.  You may receive more money for your home now because you have less competition (compared to the Spring market). The less competition your property has, the better your chances to sell your home. Some homes are taken off the market during the Holidays, so yours will have less competition by leaving it on the market during the Holidays.    

November and December actually offer a higher exposure ratio compared to other months. While February and March historically produce the highest amount of home sales, when you compare the percentage of sales to the total number of new properties that come onto the market, November and December have the highest amount of sales relative to the number of new homes that are listed on the market. Home sellers have a much greater potential for exposure within the first thirty days than they do during the rest of the year.

3.  Your Home Looks Great This Time of Year.  Homes tend to "show better" when decorated during the Holidays with festive, tasteful decorations, beautiful lights and pleasant scents.  At Christmastime, our culture focuses on family and the home. Preparing for the indoor activities of winter is one of the most enjoyable periods of family life. Allowing buyers to view your home during this most hospitable of seasons lets them better picture their own family life in the attractive environment you have created.

4.  More Emotional Buyers.  Buyers are more emotional during the Holidays and often base tehir decision on the warmth and good feeling they have when they enter your home.  There’s no time like the Holidays to make people think of "home."  Now’s the best time, actually to help buyers picture themselves making your house their home—the quickest way to a sale.

5.  More Time During The Holidays.  More people take time off of work during their Holiday vacations than any other time of year. So prospective buyers may actually be more able to look at houses now than in January. And couples are more likely to look together during the Holiday season, making your selling process more efficient.

6.  Buyers are More Sensitive to Scheduling Appointments. Since the Holidays are the time for family, buyers are more likely only to schedule those appointments for houses that truly interest them enough to buy.  And buyers are more likely to hold those appointments.

7. Relocation Buyers Move This Time of Year.  Most corporate transferees can’t wait until Spring to purchase a home because they need to buy a home now.  Your house must be on the market during the Holidays to capture one of these buyers. This will give you an advantage over sellers who take their homes off the market during the Holidays. 

Some buyers simply don’t have a choice in when they move. These families are that much more motivated to get their families settled in before either before the January semester begins, or to arrange for the move during Spring break in March. Other buyers may have planned to purchase sooner, but had to wait till their previous home was sold.  Now they need a home and have the ability to purchase. Now is when you need to have your home available to sell.

8. Financial / Tax Incentives.  Many buyers aware of the financial and tax incentives to buy before the end of the year.  They can enjoy that tax write-off whether they bought in early in January or at the last minute in December.

9. The Best Agents Continue to Work During the Holidays.  I, along with the rest of my team, are able to spend more time with my clients during the Holidays than during the busier times of the year. The same is often true for lenders, home inspectors, appraisers, title companies and others involved in the transaction.

10. More Advertising Opportunities for Your Home.  Because many agents and offices have less inventory to advertise during the winter, your home may be advertised more frequently than in the Spring or Summer months.

Convinced now?  You should be.  And your real estate agent should be able to take care of the details so that you don’t have to worry about selling your home during the busy Holiday season.

So let us work for you.  While you are shopping, working at your job, volunteering, taking care of your family and ensuring a Happy Holiday and Merry Christmas for all of your family and friends, we are busy marketing your home, arranging showings and doing everything to bring in your buyer.

The Evolution of Santa Claus from St. Nicholas
If you have a young child and you celebrate Christmas, it is a good bet that your little one has already sat on Santa’s knee this Christmas Season or that you are planning on it. But how did Santa get into the shopping malls, department stores and holiday photography studios?

Saint Nicholas
The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas. It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around 280 A.D. in Patara, near Myra in modern-day Turkey. Much admired for his piety and kindness, St. Nicholas became the subject of many legends. It is said that he gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping the poor and sick. One of the best known of the St. Nicholas stories is that he saved three poor sisters from being sold into slavery by their father by providing them with a dowry so that they could be married. Over the course of many years, Nicholas’s popularity spread and he became known as the protector of children and sailors. His feast day is celebrated on the anniversary of his death, December 6^th. This was traditionally considered a lucky day to make large purchases or to get married. By the Renaissance, St. Nicholas was the most popular saint in Europe. Even after the Protestant Reformation, when the veneration of saints began to be discouraged, St. Nicholas maintained a positive reputation, especially in Holland.

Sinter Klass Comes to New York
St. Nicholas made his first inroads into American popular culture towards the end of the 18th century. In December 1773, and again in 1774, a New York newspaper reported that groups of Dutch families had gathered to honor the anniversary of his death. The name Santa Claus evolved from Nick’s Dutch nickname, Sinter Klaas, a shortened form of Sint Nikolaas (Dutch for Saint Nicholas). In 1804, John Pintard, a member of the New York Historical Society, distributed woodcuts of St. Nicholas at the society’s annual meeting. The background of the engraving contains now-familiar Santa images including stockings filled with toys and fruit hung over a fireplace. In 1809, Washington Irving helped to popularize the Sinter Klaas stories when he referred to St. Nicholas as the patron saint of New York in his book, The History of New York. As his prominence grew, Sinter Klaas was described as everything from a “rascal” with a blue three-cornered hat, red waistcoat, and yellow stockings to a man wearing a broad-brimmed hat and a “huge pair of Flemish trunk hose.”

Shopping Mall Santa’s
Gift-giving, mainly centered around children, has been an important part of the Christmas celebration since the holiday’s rejuvenation in the early 19th century. Stores began to advertise Christmas shopping in 1820, and by the 1840′s, newspapers were creating separate sections for holiday advertisements, which often featured images of the newly-popular Santa Claus. In 1841, thousands of children visited a Philadelphia shop to see a life-size Santa Claus model. It was only a matter of time before stores began to attract children, and their parents, with the lure of a peek at a “live” Santa Claus. In the early 1890s, the Salvation Army needed money to pay for the free Christmas meals they provided to needy families. They began dressing up unemployed men in Santa Claus suits and sending them into the streets of New York to solicit donations. Those familiar Salvation Army Santa’s have been ringing bells on the street corners of American cities ever since.

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas
In 1822, Clement Clarke Moore, an Episcopal minister, wrote a long Christmas poem for his three daughters entitled, “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas.” Moore’s poem, which he was initially hesitant to publish due to the frivolous nature of its subject, is largely responsible for our modern image of Santa Claus as a “right jolly old elf” with a portly figure and the supernatural ability to ascend a chimney with a mere nod of his head! Although some of Moore’s imagery was probably borrowed from other sources, his poem helped to popularize Christmas Eve – Santa Claus waiting for the children to get to sleep the now-familiar idea of a Santa Claus who flew from house to house on Christmas Eve – in “a miniature sleigh” led by eight flying reindeer, whom he also named – leaving presents for deserving children. “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas,” created a new and immediately popular American icon. In 1881, political cartoonist Thomas Nast drew on Moore’s poem to create the first likeness that matches our modern image of Santa Claus. His cartoon, which appeared in Harper’s Weekly, depicted Santa as a rotund, cheerful man with a full, white beard, holding a sack laden with toys for lucky children. It is Nast who gave Santa his bright red suit trimmed with white fur, North Pole workshop, elves, and his wife, Mrs. Claus.

A Santa By Any Other Name
18th-century America’s Santa Claus was not the only St. Nicholas-inspired gift-giver to make an appearance at Christmastime. Similar figures were popular all over the world. Christkind or Kris Kringle was believed to deliver presents to well-behaved Swiss and German children. Meaning “Christ child,” Christkind is an angel-like figure often accompanied by St. Nicholas on his holiday missions. In Scandinavia, a jolly elf named Jultomten was thought to deliver gifts in a sleigh drawn by goats. English legend explains that Father Christmas visits each home on Christmas Eve to fill children’s stockings with holiday treats. Pere Noel is responsible for filling the shoes of French children. In Russia, it is believed that an elderly woman named Babouschka purposely gave the wise men wrong directions to Bethlehem so that they couldn’t find Jesus. Later, she felt remorseful, but could not find the men to undo the damage. To this day, on January 5th, Babouschka visits Russian children leaving gifts at their bedsides in the hope that one of them is the baby Jesus and she will be forgiven. In Italy, a similar story exists about a woman called La Befana, a kindly witch who rides a broomstick down the chimneys of Italian homes to deliver toys into the stockings of lucky children.

You don’t want to miss the Fairhope Magical Christmas Parade and Santa Shopping Saturdays coming up coming up this weekend!

Fairhope Magical Christmas Parade
Friday, December 7, 7 p.m., Downtown Fairhope
This year local residents Dr. Hollis Wiseman, his wife Teko and Joe Reimer with the Baldwin Pops will lead the parade as Fairhope First’s Quality of Life Recipients. The parade will begin at 7 p.m. at the intersection of Morphy Avenue and Section Street. For a parade application or for additional information, call 929-1466.

Santa Shopping Saturdays
December 8th & December 15th, Downtown Fairhope
This year Santa Saturdays are planned for Saturday, December 8th & 15th, when kids can do their own shopping around town. At Analece and Bayside Beads, children can make their own Secret Santa gifts and take them home gift wrapped for under $15.  “Deck the Halls”, a Christmas crafts workshop for ages 7-9, is planned for December 8th at the Art Center, where there will also be a special exhibit for the month of December celebrating the mission of the Santa America organization.  All are invited to stop by the Fairhope Welcome Center to visit with Santa and make pictures from 10 a.m. 12 p.m. For information, call 929-1466.