If you are like me, you don't get around to starting your resolutions until a few days into the new year. After all, who wants to start serious marathon training while slightly hungover. Who can get the house organized before cleaning it? And who even keeps all those resolutions anyway, so why even get started?

So, if you are like me, you are just getting around to thinking about resolutions now. And so now, I want you to stop thinking about what your resolution is gonna be and start thinking about what resolutions mean.

Resolutions are part of the seasonal/holiday puzzle. They are either the first or the last piece we put in the same puzzle we make and remake each year. Resolutions, followed by diets, stews, citrus, Super Bowl, Groundhog Day, chocolates, aphrodisacs, Valentine's Day and so on.

Each year, the puzzle makes a new picture with the same pieces.

So last year might have been pommelos, this year finger limes. Last year, affordable make-at-home Valentine's meals, this year hopefully rebounding economy blow-out celebrations.

Every year, writers both professional and not — and now a whole army of people on Twitter and Facebook who have joined in the conversation — are working on this puzzle, trying to find a new way to tell the same essential story.

Understanding this pattern is the first key to inserting yourself into the conversation. You know the media are going to be talking about finger limes this January. Get some finger limes, serve them to guests so they'll start talking about them. Tweet about what you are doing with them. Put a recipe photo montage on Facebook. Do something and someone will write about it.  Someone else will notice it. You'll be part of the conversation.

So, break out that fresh new calendar the grocery store or car wash gave you and start writing in the topics everyone writes about and talks about each year. Start listening to what people are saying about the topic, see what you learn about the zeitgeist of the day. Then start adding in what excites you now about each topic. 

You now have a plan for the year. How's that for a resolution?