It is January and an exciting and magical time where you can start over. It's time to get to work on your New Year's Resolutions. Have you noticed some of the ones on your list this year are the same ones that made an appearance last year and the year before that and the year before that? Do you wonder if this year will be any different? Well it can be if you can follow some basic tips for success.

1. Forecast: Imagine it is 31st December 2016. Take one hour to sit down in a quiet room with a candle and some relaxing music and imagine where you would like to be in 12 months time. What will you be doing? Who will you be with? What does it look like, smell like, feel like, taste like and sound like? Use all of your senses and imagine your ideal life as being your reality at the end of the year. Ask yourself the miracle question if you get stuck: "If you woke up tomorrow morning and during the night a miracle happened and you could do anything, be anything and have anything you wanted what would that look like?". Write your future self a letter telling about all the amazing things that have happened this year. 

2. Rate them: Analyse your letter to your future self. Pick up the top 3 things that are most important to you. That resonate with you the most, that get you the most excited, that you feel the most strongly about. Once you have picked three items you can use these as your goals for 2016. 

3. Write them down: Take each of these three goals and write a goal statement for each that you can hang somewhere visible you will look at every single day for the next year. First of all write the goal in the future tense as though it has happened, focus on what you DO want not what you don't want (keep it positive), and be precise and set a date. For example, In December 31 I will be the healthiest version of myself, exercising for one hour every day, giving my body the nourishment it needs and weighing in at my health weight. 

4. Take Action: Break the big goals down into manageable pieces that you can handle. It may be you set a weekly goal that you need to accomplish in order to be where you want to be in 12 months time. Write it all down, with milestones and don't forget to celebrate your success along the way. 

5. Share them: When you embark on a goal setting and dream getting journey you need people by your side to cheer you on and support you especially when the going gets tough. Share the goals with friends, join a FACEBOOK group like Action Women or hire a coach. Being accountable is one of the most sure-fire ways to be successful.

Action Women provides simple, practical and proven strategies and systems that support women to take action.

With only two days left of 2014, many of us may be thinking it's time to come up with some New Year's Resolutions in time for implementation in the New Year of 2014. The research shows and most of us know from very personal experience that New Year's Resolutions just do not work!

So what does work? Instead of making a fleeting New Year's Resolution there are three simple things you can do: SET a goal, GET A plan and START small in 2014.

Setting a goal might be easy, you may have something already in the front of your mind that you really want to change in 2014. If you don't then reflect on all the key areas of your life: relationships, health, finances, career, spiritual, knowledge, sense of self, career/business, social, giving. What is the one or two key areas you would like to change in 2014? To see changes? Make improvements?

Once you have decided on a goal, then set a goal. There is a SMART goal setting tool I use with my clients and I can talk about that in another blog but for now I want you to write your goal in the positive and focus on what you want not what you don't want and I want you to make it as specific as possible. There is a lot of power in language and how we talk to ourselves and what we say does send messages to our brain subconsciously. So instead of saying "I don't want to be overweight anymore", you could say "I want to be my healthy". You can get specific to and put a measure and a end date on it,  "I will be my healthy weight by Spring 2014". By stating that you want to be your healthy weight, you know what that healthy weight is and you can even include that in your goal statement, "I want to be my healthy weight of 66 kilos by 30 June 2014". The more specific you get, the more concrete your goal becomes. The more concrete your goal, the easier to GET a plan which is the next step.

I spend weeks helping my clients put together an ACTION plan to achieve their goal. I can discuss this in more detail in a future blog but for now the first thing you can do once you have got your goal is to brainstorm all the big and small steps you need to take to achieve your goal. Think of the bigger picture and then break it down into manageable chunks. Think of the resources you will need, personal and external to help you to carry out your plan. Do you have a support person or a support team you can share your goals with? If you don't then I can be your support person.

Even the most insurmountable of obstacles can be overcome when we START with just one small step. Once you have your list of steps in front of you, choose one to start with and make a commitment to complete that action in 24 hours. Share the commitment with a friend or send me an email and share it with me. Once you have taken that first step you have embarked on your plan and you are on your way to achieving your goal!

So SET a goal, GET a plan and START small in 2014. If you need the guidance, support and motivation of a personal certified coach then send me an email to find out how I can help or just share your goals and plans with me and make a commitment to follow through with me.

It is that time of year again and lots of us are setting New Year’s Resolutions ready for 2014. Most of us who make new years’ resolutions will abandon them within 12 weeks and the majority of us fail. The scary statistic is that research shows only one in ten of us will be successful in our New Year’s resolutions.

You may be making resolutions that are really important to you, so how can you ensure you are successful to make these changes  in 2014?

The first rule to make a goal or a new years’ resolutions is that you will stop making excuses. You will give up making up excuses  whether it be external or internal reasons so you can take responsibility to come up  with solutions. You have to take responsibility and believe that you can achieve your goal no matter what the obstacles may be. Come up with a list of  all the obstacles and then at least one way you can overcome this obstacle and  come up with a list of support people who can support you to achieve your goals including friends and family or a professional certified coach.

The second rule is to take very scary action. Most successful people make a decision and take action.  If you want a result then you need to thing about an action you are avoiding,  something you are backing away from. It is the scary action that will be the thing that will get you results. It takes courage and some support to take bold action and if you don’t have friends or family to support you then a professional certified coach can. 

The third rule is to change your beliefs and believe  deep down you can achieve your goal. You may have a set of beliefs that you  can’t change your life and you have people around you that may confirm your beliefs. You need to get supportive people around you that believe you can do  it, whether it be friends or family or a professional certified coach. 
 
The  first 12 weeks of the year are really critical to get a goal and take action as  it sets the tone for the whole year. If you are ready to get started in 2014 to  get a goal and take action then stop making excuses, take scary action and
believe deep down you can achieve your goal. Danielle is here to help if you  need the services of a professional certified coach.