Now that you know you must make your goal reachable, and you have to avoid the tyranny of the "oughts", perhaps you can think more clearly about the goal itself. You can select small steps to take, and do whatever schedule you create for a week or two just to see if it fits. Changes can be made. Pushing yourself too hard will take the energy out of the plan. Remember you can go after something slowly and steadily and have smaller wins. Those are valuable. You are building a strength in yourself that will carry you in other situations as well. Consider each try a victory.

By making the lists of why you haven't pursued this goal before with any kind of resolve, you may have learned two important things about yourself: you fear failure, or you really like the sound of accomplishing this goal, but you find the whole idea of actually putting time into it revolting. Don't be concerned. Most resolutions that go right out the window by January 2 are discarded for those reasons. That's why honesty is required in asking how important the goal is. Sometimes it's the old "I need to lose weight, but I'm on the run, and making all those silly lunches with carrots and celery gets really old." I agree. Or "If you had my work schedule, you'd see there isn't room for working out on a regular basis." Or, "I always wanted to start a business, but I don't have much money, and there are things I don't know. It seems overwhelming."

There are answers for all of the above. Usually, our thinking about what it would take to accomplish the goal is based on what has been said by others--mostly others who haven't reached their goal either. There are traditions and cliches everywhere. So what can be done?

You don't have to eat carrots on the run. You can eat that burger open faced and leave the bun. Then walk at a good pace for 15-20 minutes each day and you will have dropped 250 calories each time. Really. You will lose the weight slowly, but it will eventually take you down to where you want to be.

You don't have to go to a gym to work out. Just as the Japanese stop for 15 minutes during the work day to relax and recharge through exercise, you can find a few minutes to excuse yourself to the men's room or someplace neutral to stretch or lift small weights or just walk the halls. This small start will cause your body to ask for more. When you feel like doing more, you will--YES YOU WILL--find the 15 minutes to add more.             

And there are so many ways to get the information about starting a business that you merely have to call the local college that supports business start up through Small Business Association classes, which are FREE.  I personally took several of their offerings at a local community college, and I learned about everything from how to write a business plan to how to deal with taxes to how to use SEO to make my web presence more visible. And there were tons of classes in continuing education that were valuable in learning other skills for the marketplace. You'll get contacts and hear stories about others who are reaching out for more, and you'll be inspired to go all the way to your own startup. 

I guess you can see that there are ways to make the dreams happen. It will depend upon your own willingness to commit to the process. Take your time. It won't happen by midnight January 3. But it will begin a process that will make you feel good and will lead you into victories in many areas where you only hope that "next year" you'll find the time. Give your self room to start, slack off, restart, go slowly, reach for a bit more and continue on to the end. And don't talk about it with friends unless they will be supportive. There's nothing worse than someone who nags or always has a negative comment. It's your goal, after all. Talk happy to yourself. You can win.