Should I be a little nicer in 2011?

I’ve started working on my New Year’s resolutions for the coming year. Some of them will simply be repeats of the previous year. Any goal that I did not achieve in 2010 that I still want to complete will be added to the list.

Sadly, there will be quite a few.

But there will be new resolutions as well, and the only requirement is that each of these resolutions be definitive and measurable.

Which brings me to my the newest resolution that I am considering:

Be a little nicer.

I know. Can you believe it?

I’m not entirely convinced that this is a goal worth seeking in 2011, but some recent events have caused me to wonder.

Last week a professional singer and friend of mine dedicated a song in one of her performances to her husband, and a mutual friend posted a video clip of the performance on Facebook, declaring it our friend’s Christmas gift to her husband.

The comment I posted beneath the video:

I’d rather have an iPad.

On Twitter, someone recently asked followers to post any home remedies for a snoring spouse. Even though I actually have a home remedy that worked for me, my response was still:

Separate bedrooms or divorce.

In preparing to launch a new initiative last year, a colleague confided in me that I was a source of concern for their committee, because I tend to be disagreeable and difficult deal with. When I expressed my enthusiasm for the imitative, there was a collective sigh of relief because the committee was expecting an acerbic and dismissive attitude from me.

See what I mean? I can be really mean at times.

As a quick illustration, I just jumped over to Facebook and read every status update on my main page. Of the 22 updates, I had something mean or snarky to say about ten of them, including one of my own status updates.

I was going to be mean to myself.

This is the kind of thing I do. I hear or read a genuine expression of love, kindness or joy and my first and most preferred response is some snarky, cruel, or mean comment.

And so perhaps 2011 will be the year that I try to be a little nicer.

And please note that I don’t want to become nice or nicer or a lot more nice.

Just a little nicer.

A smidgen nicer.

But here is the problem:

How would I measure such a goal?

Just when I was ready to abandon this goal for a lack of measurement, I had an idea:

Survey Monkey, a free, online, survey generator.

I could survey my readers and friends once a month in order to determine if I have become a little nicer. Leave the determination of my success in the hands of the people.

It sound both fun and terrifying at the same time.

Any thoughts on this plan, or do you have any other resolutions that you’d like to suggest?

If so, please do.

I only have 15 days left to post my list and get to work, and based upon my lack of success in 2010, I have a lot of work to do.