Gear up your smartphone with free apps to crush those annoying goals that show up on our top-10 lists every year:

Lose Weight: Two proven weight-loss strategies—calorie counting and peer support—team up in FitNow’s app (loseit.com). Set a daily calorie budget, track activities, and connect with friends for extra motivation.

Get Organized: Build collections of photos, recipes, and decorating ideas at pinterest.com. Think of it as a personal digital scrapbook that you just happen to share with the entire world.

Manage Money: Track and categorize spending at mint.com. Enter account information, then sit back and watch. As the year unfolds, you’ll begin to notice where to cut back and save.

Learn Something New: Bring global photo journalism into your tablet with this app from Reuters (widerimage.reuters.com). Timely, insightful, sometimes disturbing, always fascinating. (Sorry, it’s iPad only.)

Get a New Job: Access postings from job boards and company websites at indeed.com. Bonus: Personalize and send your search to your smart device.

Quit Smoking: OK, these apps aren’t free—but they’re lots cheaper than smoking. QuitNow! ($2.99, Google Play) and Livestrong MyQuit Coach ($3.99, iTunes) motivate soon-to-be-reformed-smokers with progress trackers, chats, and achievable goals.

Help Others: Find a great place to volunteer at volunteermatch.org.  Make a difference and connect with others in your community with this iPhone app.

Meet New People: Join the largest location-based social network at badoo.com. Meet new friends, chat, and share interests.

Send Cards: Find the perfect card for whenever and whomever at justwink.com. Get reminders and send personalized digital greetings via text, email, or Facebook.

Save the Planet: Go green with the One Small Act app from greenisuniversal.com. Choose from 400+ simple, eco-friendly actions; track progress; and share achievements.

Top 10 Apps for Self-Improvement The Saturday Evening Post

Dr. Grossman’s 5 Resolutions for Health:

1.  Engage in a hobby. Reading, watching TV and movies, fishing, or gardening stimulate your mind and body, but  you might also wish to consider hobbies that help you develop special skills and learn something new such as photography, stamp or coin collecting, bird watching, sewing, or woodworking.

2.  Go on vacation. Taking time off is not optional—it’s critical to optimizing longevity. Americans who skip vacations are more likely to develop heart disease, have heart attacks, and die younger than those who take time to relax.

3.  Sleep between 7 and 8 hours a night. Research on twins shows that the ones who slept at least 7 hours tended to live longer than their counterparts who were not as well rested.

4.  Connect with other people. In his book, The Blue Zones, author Dan Buettner explores far flung regions of the world where people experience the greatest longevity–Loma Linda, California; Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; and the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rico. The common theme?  People who live in these areas have strong and lifelong connections with family, friends, church groups, and social organizations.

5.  Floss your teeth. Bacteria lodged in the recesses of gum tissue create inflammation, a key risk factor for heart disease and stoke. Regular flossing could add 6.4 years to your life, according to Dr. Michael F. Roizen, popular speaker and author of Real Age.

What is your strategy for a healthy and happy 2010? Post a comment to share your resolutions, challenges, and successes with other online readers.

Healthy New Year! The Saturday Evening Post

What is your strategy for being youthful and enjoying life in 2009?

Fountain of Youth The Saturday Evening Post