Beware of “burn out.” This usually happens after you have achieved a short-term goal. You pat yourself on the back and decide to “kick it up a notch,” but your body is at the limit. You have to listen to your body. Although you can make improvements “in leaps and bounds,” it is not a machine.

Use different approaches: Walk, use cardio machines, swim, and use weights. If you are bored, jump into a group fitness class such as Yoga, Pilates, cardio kickboxing, spinning, aerobics, body shaping, or something else. You may find one of them to be your “calling.”

Don’t knock anything until you have tried it. Many people perceive an exercise to be one thing, until they are deeply involved in it. There’s nothing wrong with being the only man in a Yoga class. Also, there’s nothing wrong with being the only woman in a martial arts class.

Fitness is an equal opportunity environment, so get the stereotypes out of your head and don’t buy into classic excuses. I had a client with Cerebral Palsy on one side of her body. She had also been involved in a traffic accident, which caused permanent damage to her knee and ankle, on the other side of her body.

She used to drive an hour from her home in Massachusetts to our location in North Providence, Rhode Island. She was around 60 pounds over her ideal weight. She never made excuses or missed an appointment. She lost all of that weight within two years, and she is now a personal trainer.

Make sure the people you surround yourself with are supportive of your goals. For example: It’s hard to lose weight if your husband insists on bringing home a supply of Big Macs every night. Your resolution may turn into a disaster if this is the case.

You may have to adjust your lifestyle to be persistent, positive, and goal oriented. Once you carry through, and succeed with one resolution, it will be a fantastic experience. This is the beginning of using goal-setting skills to enhance the quality of your entire life.

Lastly, remember this all started with writing down a plan that I mentioned in Part One. Your resolution should be as detailed as possible. Clearly define your resolution with realistic time frames and deadlines. Your odds of following through, making progress, and reaching your goals, will exponentially increase just by putting it in writing. Consider this a contract with yourself.

Paul Jerard is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher. http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

Would you like to be sure that your personal goals are consistent with your business goals? (Yes) (No)

You might have certain personal goals that are, or become, divergent to your business goals.

For instance, let’s say that you set clear personal goals to compete in the Iron Man Triathlon in Hawaii. Obviously, to compete in an arduous event like this you not only have to train rigorously, but you also have to qualify by competing in a number of prior triathlons, placing high enough in these events to earn a bid fro the Iron Man in Hawaii.

At the same time, let’s say you are married with two kids, and you have set some very aggressive professional goals, which include starting your own business and making it profitable within a 2-3 year time horizon.

Given the fact that the average new entrepreneur puts in 60-70 hours per week and you have family responsibilities to consider, chances are you will experience major goal conflicts in your life when it comes to competing in triathlons. Something has to give.

Do you give up your sports goals, your business goals, or your family?

These are tough decisions.

They all boil down to making sure that your personal and professional goals are compatible.

The process of setting synchronous personal and business goals speaks to the importance of setting a clear and workable life strategy. The process of creating a life strategy includes the homogenization over time of personal and business goals. Unless you unify your goals there will be goal conflict, which fosters turmoil in your life.

For the best results, you need to start by creating a life strategy that makes sense to you in terms of satisfying all of your personal and professional aspirations, leaving quality time for your family, and fitting everything into a reasonable time schedule.

In general, people today work too hard, play too hard, and neglect their health and rest time. It is truly a challenge to fit everything in and lead a balanced life.

At the end of the day, at the end of a career, if all you have to show for all of your hard work and hectic schedule is a large net worth while your family never saw you, and your health suffered terribly because you drove yourself too hard, you have to ask yourself, ‘Was it really worth it?’ Take it from expert workaholics, balance your life, plan your life, and enjoy your life -you can take happiness and love with you, money you cannot.

Keep in mind, there are always trade-offs in this process of goal setting and life strategy building. It is important that you weigh all your options in order to make choices that support a healthy and happy life for you and your family.

Yes, it may take a change in mind-set, career, lifestyle, or even location to balance your life, still be productive, and achieve the goals that you want to achieve.

About The Author

Charles and Holly Egner are veteran entrepreneurs. They have trained, coached, and mentored hundreds of entrepreneurs. Their last entrepreneurial venture sold for just under $400 million in 1999. BuildOnYourDreams.com was founded to help aspiring entrepreneurs build the business of their dreams. Free Teleseminar and eCourse, visit http://www.BuildOnYourDreams.com today.

Are you achieving your goals as quickly as you’d like?

If not, why not?

Let’s evaluate some natural laws, and find hints to easily and passionately achieve your desired goals.

To create a result, it takes two distinct contributors plus energy. In nature, a doe, a buck, plus energy create a fawn. At a molecular level, hydrogen, oxygen, plus energy create water.

Doesn’t it make sense that it works the same way with your goals?

The two contributors are the thought (goal), the feelings (emotions), and energy (intensity of thoughts and feelings). In other words, the more intense and frequent the thought, and the more intense and frequent the feelings, the quicker the goal is realized.

Years ago, I believed that goal-setting was hoky-poky, airy-fairy stuff. I believed that if I worked reeeeeeeally hard, all would be fine. I’d have what I would need to “just get by,” and to be “comfortable.”

I refused to write goals, yet I was mentally setting goals as I planned what I was going to accomplish. I was farming, so it took long-term planning to arrange for seed, fertilizer, bulls, feed supply, mortgage payments, and a bushel of other things (pun intended).

My effectiveness was based upon the intensity and frequency of thought, and the intensity and frequency of feelings. I was excited about each venture, and the goals were achieved.

Now the monkey-wrench!

I was newly married – hmm, some challenges. We had some tough years with poor crops, livestock problems, and poor commodity prices. I was working physically hard for long, long days to “just get by.” My body was breaking down. Unconsciously, I chose a negative attitude. My thoughts, words, and feelings were negatively charged with intensity – awful-izing, should-izing, and generalizing.

“Things never work out for me!”

“This *&$%# back of mine always hurts! I feel like an old man.”

“Can’t she see that I’m bustin’ my butt around here? I don’t have time for fun things!”

“There’s no way that we can afford a holiday!”

“It’s going to be really tough to make that payment!”

There was physical intensity too. I perma-scowled, stomped, and waved my arms in the air. The words? Ooooh – foul and vehement (a pleasant way to describe them).

Guess what? I realized those goals very quickly. I created exactly what I passionately focussed on.

I finally became aware of what I was doing, and consciously chose to create positive success, rather than negative success.

• What are you creating in your life?

• Are your thoughts about the negatives – the “what if’s,” and “how come’s?”

• Do you awful-ize, poor-me-itize, should-ize, whine-itize, and blame-icate?

• Where do you place great intensity of emotions?

Here are my Hints for Health, Happiness, and Harmony.

Do not do these unless you are willing to scrutinize your every thought, word, and behaviour.

• Think deeply about the qualities and traits by which you aspire to live.

• Think deeply about things that you want to achieve, or create, in your career, relationships, and personal life. Choose goals in each area to maintain balance, otherwise you may focus on one area, and others will be neglected.

• Think about how you will feel as you achieve your goals.

• Jot these thoughts down, and create statements using positive, empowering, present tense words about you, your goals, and the feelings. Examples:

• Read your own statements to yourself at least twice a day – morning and evening.

• After reading each statement, close your eyes, visualize yourself, and feel the emotions as if the statement were true right now. The greater the intensity of the visualizations and feelings; the sooner the goals will be realized.

You may be thinking, “Ah, come on, Dan. I don’t have time for that.”

Then continue to do what you are doing. That is your choice.

If you are “just getting by,” “just comfortable,” or want more out of life, I challenge you to give these hints a whirl. Stretch yourself. Do it for at least 30 days to create a new habit.

I guarantee that you will ratchet your life forward, and experience greater happiness and success.

What do you have to lose by trying?

What do you have to gain?

Dan Ohler is Thinkin’ Outside The Barn!

Dan writes and speaks internationally on relationships, happiness, and change. He helps you learn the secrets to create life-long flourishing relationships and abounding success.

For FREE how-you-can-do-it-too articles, visit http://ThinkinOutsideTheBarn.com/

To order your copy of "Thinkin’ Outside The Barn And Steppin’ Into Fresh B.S." visit http://ThinkinOutsideTheBarn.com/

Keeping your word is critical to reducing your stress and creating a life you love. When I say keeping your word what I’m referring to is honoring what you commit to. It’s keeping your promises, especially with yourself.

Unfortunately, we usually betray ourselves more than we do anyone else. We say one thing and do another. For any of you who have children or for that matter, who once were children, you know how it feels to have a promise made and then not kept. You lose faith and trust in the other person. Well, the same thing occurs with you. When we don’t keep our word we lose credibility and it undermines our self-esteem. Every broken commitment is a crack in the foundation for creating a high quality life.

How many times have you said you’re going to exercise or eat better and not followed through? We’ve all fallen into the trap of saying we’re going to do something and then finding every possible excuse not to do it. Have you noticed that the next time you make a similar promise to yourself it’s tainted with doubt? You don’t completely trust that you’re going to do what you say.

Whatever you neglect to respect — the commitment to spend more time with your kids, to live by a financial budget, to be more understanding of your parents—these betrayals poison the well of your credibility. They undermine your integrity and trustworthiness. It’s not that the fickle finger of fate is going to come down and punish you. It’s about your not having the internal support to accomplish the changes you want to make.

The key to being successful is to start small. Don’t make any grand proclamations that will set you up for failure. Keep it simple. Only commit to what you honestly know you can and will do. Otherwise don’t say it. For example: rather than proclaiming, “I’m going to leave the office everyday at 5.” A more reasonable and achievable approach would be “I’m going to leave work at 5 today.” It’s the old AA concept of one day at a time. Instead of saying, “I’ll never yell at my kids again.” (Which is next to impossible to do.) Why not be more sensible and say “Today I’ll speak to my children in a calm manner.” Or “From now on I’m going to spend at least a half an hour a day doing something that nurtures me.” Wouldn’t it be more realistic to say, “Today I’m going to set aside a half an hour for myself.” The secret is to make promises that you know you can keep. Manageable commitments allow you to be successful and to become a person who keeps her word and is trustworthy.

Stephanie is an acclaimed speaker and author. She speaks from experience. Stephanie is the “go to” expert for those seeking to create quality driven lives. She is the author of Chicken Soup for the Soul’s Life Lessons for Women: 7 Essential Ingredients for a Balanced Life, If Not Now, When? For more information please visit her website: http://www.stephaniemarston.com

When I began to write this article, I decided to go back to basics and check out the dictionary definition of “resolutions”. I got “A thing resolved on, an intention”. To me, the word “intention” is preferable to “resolution”. Somehow intention resonates with the idea of “definitely going to do”, whereas “resolution” has more of an air of doing something because it is good for you…and that’s not always the most inspiring. So I decided to focus on New Year Intentions. I think for intentions to work they need to have the following three elements:

1. Inspiring

2. Achievable

3. Get support

Inspiring, not perspiring

Have you ever noticed how some tasks can be done so easily and effortlessly at some times and at other times…it’s like pulling teeth. The difference is inspiration. I believe inspiration comes when we are doing something that we feel really serves others and the wider world. So when you choose this year’s intention, choose something that you feel will contribute to the benefit of others, not just yourself. Ask yourself where your passion lies…what would you do without getting paid for it?

Achievable – Make it real

The first step in beginning to make your intention real is to take some time to actually visualise life AFTER the achievement of the goal. This could take a number of forms. For example you could devise a treasure map (assemble pictures out of magazines and newspapers that represents your goal) in a scrapbook that you could look at every day. Another way would be to imagine yourself after you have achieved the goal. Write down what you are doing, how you are feeling…all in the present tense. Now ask yourself what steps you could take to begin making this a reality. Also begin thinking about what you could do AFTER you have achieved this goal.

Get support

An inevitable part of taking on a challenge is the slump that comes with it. You will definitely go through times when you feel as though you are completely cracked to take this on. You will doubt yourself, doubt your ability. At this times it is essential that you have supports set up to help you get back on track. Here are some ways to keep you going:

1. Enlist the help of a group of people (could be over the Internet) to encourage and support you.

2. Keep a book somewhere in which you have written down compliments/acknowledgements people have given you. Read it back.

3. Go back to your original vision. If your intention is linked to helping other people, focus on them not yourself.

4. Step back from the feelings. You could do this by journalling them. Ask them what they are trying to tell you. Accept and acknowledge them..but remember you are not your feelings.

5. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. People can be extraordinarily supportive and kind but be guided by your own instincts.

6. Acknowledge yourself every step of the way. Salute your courage in taking on this intention.

Anne Walsh is a life coach based in Galway Ireland. You can check out her website at http://www.annewalshcoach.com and you receive a free 10 part complete personal development course when you subscribe to her monthly ezine: Bring your best self to light http://www.annewalshcoach.com/subscribe.htm.

What is it about New Year’s resolutions that for so many people almost predict failure just by declaring them? The answer lies in the vacuum in which so many of us “resolve” to do better next year. To eat better, to work harder, to get fitter, to generally be better.

The problem is, when making New Year resolutions, we’re essentially deciding to replace old habits with new, and changing habits is not as easy as simply deciding to do so. It takes approximately three weeks to develop a new habit, and that means three weeks of commitment to behaving in the way you now wish to. For some lucky people, once they decide to do something, they just forge ahead and do it, and their dedication pays off with new habits formed in a short space of time.

But for most of us, it’s extremely difficult not to fall back into our “old ways”, and so in order to ensure a higher degree of success we need to do more than decide to behave differently. We need to put a structure in place that will make it easier for us to stick to our new behaviour long enough for it to become habitual.

So how do we do this? Well first of all, get clear on what it is you want to achieve. To take a typical new year (and my real) example: “I want to lose weight and get fit.” Simple enough goal, with a simple enough strategy: eat more healthily and take some exercise. The difficulty though is that if healthy eating and regular exercise are not part of your existing habits then putting this strategy into action will be less simple and more of a struggle than you might expect.

So what kind of a “structure” do I need to put in place to make it less of a struggle? Well firstly, I need to make my goal as specific as possible, write it down and keep it in a place where I will see and read it regularly – I need to visualise a specific outcome. In the given example, losing weight could mean anything from two pounds to eight stone and anywhere in between. If I leave the goal unspecific, it will be easier for me to let myself off the hook at the first obstacle. If however, I have a particular target in mind, I’m more likely to get back in the saddle should I go astray occasionally. In my case, I want to lose half a stone, reduce my cholesterol by two points and be fit enough to easily deal with my weekly canoe polo training sessions.

So now I’m clear on exactly what it is I want to achieve, the next thing I need to do is break down my overall strategy into baby steps. What this does is makes it easier to get started straight away. “Sure I can start eating healthily and taking exercise today, but I’ve nothing healthy in the house, and it’s raining outside… I’ll start tomorrow.” Sound familiar? However, if we take this overall strategy and break it down, a funny thing happens: we feel more motivated! And motivation is the key to both getting started and keeping going.

So my baby steps will be: plan a three week menu of delicious and healthy meals; shop for the right supplies (store cupboard staples for this three week supply, enough fresh fruit and veg to last three to four days, and healthy, low fat (but also tasty) snacks; recruit an exercise buddy and schedule regular exercise sessions together; find a photo of me at the weight I want to be (or stick my face onto a picture of somebody else at the weight I want to be) and stick it to my fridge!

So, I can start today without venturing out into the wind and rain. Just by browsing through recipe books and websites to plan my three week menu, I can feel my motivation increasing, and this drives my desire to go shopping as soon as possible to stock up on the foods that will support me in achieving my goal. And as I get started, it’s easier to take the next step and ring a friend to make a commitment to go for a long walk together the next day, no matter what the weather. With each little step, I further cement my resolve, and as each day goes by the easier it becomes to maintain my new behaviour.

But to keep it up long-term, I’m going to need even more support. Why? Because life will bring with it little obstacles that will make it more difficult to stick to my plans. I’ll have occasional unplanned meals out, my exercise buddy will cancel every now and then, I’ll probably even have the odd pig-out day! Without additional supports in place, these little hiccups could result in my resolution being abandoned before I have solidified my new habits.

To put that in place, I need to try and identify what obstacles might arise which would increase the chances of me abandoning my new ways before they do become more habitual to me. And then, anticipating these obstacles before I actually encounter them, put in place supports to help me either avoid them completely, or recover from them quickly and get myself back on track.

I have already identified some potential obstacles, so what can I do to overcome them? Well, I could recruit two exercise buddies, not just one. I could also have a back-up plan, such as a yoga mat and video. I could allow myself a couple of days a month to misbehave food-wise without beating myself up about it psychologically, or going the “hung for a sheep as a lamb” route. I could join Weight Watchers (in fact, I already have). I could educate myself about food, good fats & bad, cholesterol reducing foods etc. And to keep my motivation up, I can remind myself daily of what my goal is, and what “baby steps” I need to take today to keep moving in the right direction.

These are all small and simple steps I can take, but added together equal a support programme which will significantly increase my chances of success. Instead of simply making myself a promise, I am committing to real and lasting change that will positively affect my life. And I expect to succeed! I hope you manage to keep your own new year’s resolutions this year.

Hilda Carroll is a life coach who specialises in helping people to be happy right now, and see achievement of their goals as a bonus rather than the source of their happiness. Visit her website at http://www.thehappinessbusiness.com

You have twelve months to accomplish your goals for the New Year. It is a lot of months and you can be successful if you set your goals properly. Here is a good a good formula:

1. Make a list of all you want to accomplish during the year. Think the following categories:

Health — nutrition, exercise, wellness, weight loss

Prosperity — stuff you want to have, finances or income, jobs, businesses

Relationships – friends, life-partners, family, co-workers

Lifestyle – fun and recreation, travel and culture, self-improvement

Education – classes, courses

Community Service – volunteering, advocating

2. Write down the strategies that you will use to accomplish each of the subcategories.

For example: Your goal is to increase your revenue participating in a Network Marketing program. Think how many people you will need who will buy from you and who will join your group; how much money you want to make; how many hours you will put in, etc, for each month.

Another example: you want to gain muscle and become stronger. Think how many times per week you will need to exercise and for how long and how much muscle weight you want to put, etc.

3. Divide the strategy in 12 segments, beginning from the end.

Suppose you want to have $12,000.00 in your bank account. You will need to save $1000.00 per month.

So, how much money can you realistically put away each month? Perhaps in November you can only put away $500.00 because you need to buy Christmas presents. You know you will receive money from the IRS in May, so you can put more that month, and so on.

4. Work backwards, from December to January.

5. Choose a day each month, perhaps the first day of the month or the last Saturday of the month, to check how you are doing and make adjustments if necessary. Keep your mind in December and the accomplishment of your goal.

This is not a complicated process, really, but you need to make time to write everything down and organize your life. Success is much more easily accomplished when you put your mind to it and act accordingly.

At the end of the year, check all your accomplishments and celebrate. You deserve it.

Repeat the process for the following year.

© Maria Moratto 2005
About the author
Dr. Maria Moratto holds 5 degrees and is a life and spiritual coach/educator. She promotes seminars and courses in attracting abundance and loving relationships, time management, stress management, diversity, goal setting, career discovery, values clarification, leisure, self-improvement, college life, communication and learning styles, spirituality, natural health and lifestyle. Visit her website at http://www.rx4bliss.com and sign up for a free e-zine that is short, informative, and fun. Visit her fun blogs at: http://www.rx4bliss.blogspot.com and http://www.thedollarbillgame.blogspot.com You may reprint this article in its entirety as long as you add this source box.

I recently spent some time revising my personal vision/mission statement for my coaching practice. While doing this, it occurred to me that the vision I have for my work is closely related to my personal vision. Having a job that reflects my personal vision is powerful because it has allowed me to create a business life for myself that truly reflects who I am.

Companies know all about vision and mission statements and getting their employees on board. Vision and mission statements propel the company in the direction that they want, and ultimately towards success. Many of us have spent countless hours working on these statements for our employers, and doing our part to contribute to their vision as a part of the team. Much like a business, we, as human beings have a purpose or mission in life.

What if we spent as much time getting to know who we are and what we want for ourselves? A personal vision/mission statement is the framework for creating a powerful life. Unlike a goal, a vision or mission rarely changes. It is a reason for our existence. It guides us in the decisions we make and the directions we take.

Your Personal Vision

Close your eyes and picture yourself in the future. It may be a few months or years from today. See the person you are; what you are doing, who you are with, what you have accomplished, what is important to you, and how people relate to you. How does it feel to be you? Feel the person you are, your true self. Now, open your eyes and see your life and yourself in the present, through those eyes. You will begin to notice the changes you need to make to honour this vision and lead a powerful life. A Personal Vision is a picture of your True Self in the future. An effective personal vision includes all the important elements of your life and career; it is who you want to be, what you want to do, how you want to feel, what you want to own, and who you want to associate with. Although your personal vision helps you to see into the future, it must be grounded in the present. It is a statement of who you are, and who you are becoming. It is the framework for the process of creating your life. Your vision is where you are headed, how you get there is your mission statement.

Your Personal Mission Statement

A Personal Mission Statement is how you will manifest your Personal Vision in your daily life. It may be a few words or several pages, but it is not a "to do" list. It reflects your uniqueness and must speak to you powerfully about the person you are and the person you are becoming. Remember, it’s okay to be where you are, while heading somewhere else. In fact, the only place you can start, is where you are right now. Having a personal vision does not mean your life changes overnight. But it will change. Your personal mission statement provides the steps to get you there.

Your Personal Mission Statement should answer three questions:

1. What is my life about (Purpose)?
2. What do I stand for (Values)?
3. What actions do I take to manifest my Purpose and my Values?

Stephen Covey writes that an empowering Mission Statement: Represents the deepest and best within you. It comes out of a solid connection with your deep inner life. Is the fulfillment of your own unique gifts. It’s the expression of your unique capacity to contribute. Addresses and integrates the four fundamental human needs and capacities in the physical, social/emotional, mental and spiritual dimensions. Deals with all the significant roles in your life. It represents a lifetime balance of personal, family, work, community-whatever roles you feel are yours to fill. Is written to inspire you-not to impress anyone else. It communicates to you and inspires you on the most essential level.

"Creating a Personal Mission Statement will be, without question, one of the most powerful and significant things you will ever do to take leadership of you life. In it you will identify the most important roles, relationships, and things in your life - who you want to be, what you want to do, to whom and what you want of give your life, the principles you want to anchor your life to, the legacy you want to leave. All the goals and decisions you will make in the future will be based upon it. It’s like deciding first which wall you want to lean your ladder of life against, and then beginning to climb. It will be a compass - a strong source of guidance amid the stormy seas and pressing, pulling currents of you life." Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

A Personal Vision/Mission can help propel you into a new job, or make your present job work better for you. The more connected your Personal Vision/Mission is to yourself, the better it can guide your career and your life.

About The Author

Cecile Peterkin is a trained Career/Life Coach and speaker whose work centers primarily on middle managers and their various challenges. She also works with individuals who are ready to move forward, take action, achieve goals and experience overall life improvement, both in personal and in career.

Cosmic Coaching Centre

www.cosmiccoachingcentre.com

416-486-5000

cecile@cosmiccoachingcentre.com

January 1st rolls around and there are resolutions up the wazoo – which no one seems to keep.

Society instantly asks to you recognize some glaring personality flaw - on the spot. Without any planning, preparation or foresight you go for it! You pick something monumental to fix. You never start small or say, “I promise to water and care for the house plants!” Instead you pick something that’s been plaguing you for months or even years. The infamous, “I promise to quit smoking” or “…lose twenty-five pounds.”

Failing miserably, you’ve fallen off the wagon by January 21st. Statistically speaking, less than 10% of women who commit to lose weight, stop smoking, stick to a budget, get a new job, or be a better person will actually accomplish what they said they would on January 1st.

So, why fight it?

Perhaps you should give chocolate, “2006 Honorary Food Group Status” where you can indulge in delicious, delightful, smooth, and creamy morsels that keep your head, heart, and tummy pleased. The reality is most women are cutting out an entire “chocolate food group” that has four times the antioxidants of green tea and it releases endorphins, which makes you feel happier.

Here are 7 totally awesome ideas to women who want to succeed and feel like a million bucks all year long (despite what 90% of the population does – or more accurately has failed to do by now) Now you can finally stop berating yourself for what you promised to do… should’ve… could’ve… or or haven’t done.

The Top 7 Fool-Proof Resolutions:

1. Rekindle your inner imp. Who says the “better” you is your stuffy self all prim and proper? When you let out the silly, sassy, playfully mischievous, and audacious girl you truly show your true colors. You can accomplish anything.

2. Be non committal. Play with marvelous ideas for a bit. Half of the stuff we say we will do, we never actually plan on really doing it. All these promises we feel we should, must, or are obligated to do got completely trashed within the first week. Try stuff on for size before commit. You can do anything set your mind to… once you really want to. Play until you feel the time is right. Get FREE tips that prove You Don’t Have To Do Anything at www.shesite.com.

3. Live in a land of conundrums. Slow down and pick up the pace. Try yoga and drink triple lattes. Let your childlike wisdom shine. Try “modern urban rustic” décor. Be a modern minimalist multitasker. Drink nonalcoholic beer. Try extreme relaxation. Experiment with the extremes and see what marvelous moments you come up with.

4. Be unrealistic. Think bigger about the world than you ever have before. Go outside your comfort zone. Dream beyond your expectations. You have miraculous abilities to accomplish all you desire so passionately dream… dream… dream - in vivid technicolor - until you have considered every imaginable possibility that thrills you.

5. Steal resources. Why recreate the wheel? Just find all the people around you who have achieved the same or similar goals. Find out what worked for them - and what didn’t. Try their solutions on for size. Add plenty of personal modifications so the color, style, and habits fit you like a glove.

6. Throw your arms up. Give in and give up. It’s the stress and strain that’s got your panties in a bunch. Without it you can do some pretty fierce stuff. You always got great results in the past when you were free flowing, energized and in the moment. Let go and see what happens.

7. Be selfish. Give yourself unadulterated permission to think about you and only you! Be incredibly opinionated and resolute about what feels wonderful – then go for what you want. Allow yourself to connect with your true desires, wants, and needs. Toss out societal expectations and indulge in what makes you smile!

And if you want to start with a clean slate - don’t worry. There’s still time to come up with the perfect “anti-resolution” for the Chinese New Year on January 29th!

Julie Hunt is pure delight and motivation. She’s a free flowing source of hope, energy and inspiration who tells it like it is giving straight forward and simple tips and advice so you can live happier days and obliterate the monotony of life.

She is on a self propelled mission to scream, skip, run, jump, shout, dance and sing with women all around the universe who want live a vivacious life busting at the seams! Check it out at http://www.shesite.com.

We often hear the old saying that Failing to Plan is planning to Fail. Planning is indeed critical if we are to achieve what we truly want in our lives. For me there are a number of stages to creating a Plan:

The Vision

What I quite often refer to as the "Mountain Top View." Imagine that you are stood on top of a mountain and as you look around you everything you want in your life, in say five years time, is in place. Five years is probably as far as you should go and more often people feel more comfortable thinking about three years in the future. So as you look around you what do you see? Now don’t go putting barriers in the way because remember you have achieved what you wanted to achieve, you have climbed the mountain! Everything from where you are stood now is what you wanted to be able to see.

Now for me in five years time we will have stopped working in someone else’s box/business. We will instead be working in our own business, which will be based online, but have lots of real contact with people. We will be earning sufficient to maintain our lifestyle living in a wing of a large old Country House (of which there is a picture sat beside my computer monitor.) We will also be earning sufficient to keep us in the style we want to live long into the future when we move to live in Italy.

When I have worked with others in the past and when you are doing this part for yourself you should be able to say what colour Front Door your house or apartment will have etc in other words really paint the picture that you can see from the top of the mountain.

Boulder Avoidance.

This is where you look back down the mountain and try to spot the boulders you have overcome on your way to the top of the mountain. What were they? Were there some big boulders and some little ones? Make sure that you have a clear view of the things that tried to stop you getting to the top of the mountain so that when you sit down and work out your objectives over the medium and short term you know what you have got to overcome.

Now to give you an example probably the biggest boulder in our way at the moment is generating the income from our online activities and knowing which of the activities will generate what we need and which will not contribute to what we want to achieve. So here we are starting to think about where we need to focus our activities and are asking questions. Are there online activities which are taking up a large percentage of our time but contributing little to what we want to achieve?

It may be that there are some that you want to continue to take up a large amount of time without them contributing. However, you need to consciously be aware of that rather than bemoaning the fact that you are not achieving what you say you want to. If you are serious about running an online business and want to move full time online your mindset needs to change from "hobby" to "business".

Now I will turn to the specifics of creating your Plan. The two elements I have mentioned so far are the parts which people normally miss out. However, they are critical if the detailed part of your planning is to have a context and an aim.

Detailed Planning

In terms of the detail of the Plan you create it needs to have a focus on the Vision and be constructed in the Long Term (9 months plus), Medium Term (1 to 3 months) and the Short Term ( the next month). You need to have a very clear focus on what you want to achieve in those time frames. In order to do that I work with SMART Objectives:

Specific - what exactly do I want to achieve?

Measurable - what numbers or other measurable element do I want?

Achievable - is what I am proposing achievable? Relevant - is what I am proposing to do relevant to enabling me to achieve my Vision?

Time bound - so I will achieve by xx/xx/06

SMART has always worked for me and if you combine it with PDR (Plan, Do and then Review) it’s a surefire way of focusing you on what you need to achieve.

I will finish by simply saying that you should always keep asking yourself "have I done today what I planned to do and has it contributed to achieving my Vision?"

Paul Duxbury is a successful online entrepreneur with many successful websites. Some of the latest to launch include http://www.fulfilling-your-dreams.com and http://www.sort-your-finances.com