By Abe Villarreal

With the calendar year coming to a close, I'm sure many of you are thinking - wow where has the time gone?! I've asked myself the same question a time or two.

Maybe it's the shorter days. Darker nights are spent indoors allowing for time of reflection. I've been thinking that a new year is about to begin and new opportunities for new beginnings are on the horizon.

Before the year ends, there are still two months for you to accomplish what you've been pushing aside since last January. Here are five easy ways to make the last eight weeks count.

Make a list. Jot down the things you wish you could have accomplished in 2016. They could be big things like traveling the world. Small things are OK, too, like losing five pounds. It's not too late.

Pick one. Failure often comes from an ambition to do everything. You don't have to accomplish your life goals before the calendar switches over to 2017. Pick just one item from your list and take it on. If you start from the easiest to achieve, such as visiting an old friend, or donating your used books, you'll find it easy to take on a second, and third item. Before you know it, you'll feel accomplished, tackling one life goal after another.

Think of others. Our goals often involve me, myself, and I, but you may find it less challenging to take on goals that involve others first. Take a look at your list. How many items involve your family or neighbors? Do your goals affect your colleagues or church family? Re-think what you've written down. If someone other than you didn't make the list, add an extra goal. You'll find it just as rewarding as the plans you had for yourself.

Clear your schedule. The holidays can be frantic and stressful. You're making travel arrangements, looking up old recipes, and searching for the perfect gift. All this is good until you find yourself regretting what you could have, and should have accomplished in 2016. Pick a day, better yet, pick a weekend to take on your end-of-year goals. You'll be refreshed, and re-energized to finish the year strong.

Be thankful. Life is full of blessings. Some we see, and some we don't notice. If you make it to New Year's Eve and feel like a failure because you couldn't take on the goals you planned for the last eight weeks'don't fret. Shake it off and look towards 2017 as the year of making things happen.

Abe Villarreal is the Director of Communications at Western New Mexico University. When not on campus, he enjoys writing about his observations on marketing, life, people and American traditions.