Thursday 10 January 2008

Tips to make your New Year's Resolutions Stick

You know yourself how easy it is to start slipping back into the old habits despite our best intentions. New Year. New outlook. New hope. And then somewhere along the line you're wondering where it all went wrong. Yes, well, life got in the way. It was too hard to keep going. Other priorities crept in. You know the sort of stuff and fluff that happens.


First off, mostly we are very vague about what we want to achieve. Like the idea of losing weight. We know what we must do, and we may even have the jeans in mind that we want to be able to slip back into which is fine but, how much, how long, what for? Often we don't get clear and specific about what we want to achieve.  

Having a very strong 'why do I want to do this?' in your mind is going to propel you along much better too. I had a coach who emphasised PURPOSE as the first stepping stone to your success, followed by the goals and then the action steps. Consider "I want to lose weight this year" against "Its June 2008 and I am 14 pounds lighter looking and feeling fantastic at my daughter's wedding." Now let me ask, which one sounds more likely to be achieved?

What's more, write down what you want to achieve and why. Crazy but its true. Writing it down is powerful. If you can't take this simple step, how likely is it that you will take the further actions needed to succeed? Better still, pin a copy in lots of places where you will see it every day. But thats only half of it. Keep it in mind frequently. Read that journal or whatever over again at regular intervals. 

And a special trick is to paste a picture up of the goal - like your head stuck onto a picture of someone the size you want to be wearing what you'd like to be wearing. Don't snort. A picture says a thousand words and is a strong visual cue. You're training your mind to respond to what you want.

And more than that, talk about it to other people - a coach, a mastermind group, a mentor, a friend -who you know will support what you are trying to do even if they don't understand the specifics. And by the same token, don't share it with others who are going to be negative naysayers and bring you down.

Incidentally a great tip for writing down the goals is to do so as if they have already been accomplished, with a timeframe written in. Something like "Its March 2008 and I am now half a stone lighter. I am regularly ...... "

You know what else? Try not to set too many goals all at once and build in small achievable steps that you can reasonably work towards. I can't stress this enough. Otherwise you may be setting yourself up for failure. Of course different people need different approaches. For example, some people can cut out cigarettes all at once. It works better for others to reduce in increments. Just be honest with yourself about what works for you.

One more thing I want to recommend is to reward yourself with something that you really enjoy that is great for you, and set the reward specifically ahead of completion. So knowing you'll have a weekend break with a friend for example when the goal is done may just keep your motivation higher.  Better still, tell the friend that's what you are doing so you're more likely to keep your word.

I'd like to recommend Christopher Howard's Breakthrough to Success event which he holds in the UK, USA , Australia and New Zealand. How does that help with your goals? Christopher is a powerfully motivating presenter who shows you how to utilise the enormous resources of your unconscious mind so you can really live your goals.

In just one weekend and using the very latest accelerated human change technologies and a variety of NLP techniques, Christopher can propel you towards achieving your goals. I genuinely was amazed at the effectiveness of his approach and that's not just for myself but also for a number of people I knew who also attended.  

The cost is your time, transport and energy only. Yes its free, and yes there will be CDs, books, seminars etc. to buy but you don't have to have any of that. Frankly, for what you'd be getting out of it, its worth devoting one weekend to it. And don't forget the networking possibilities for you're more than likely to meet others who want to achieve their goals too. And these relationship possibilities themselves can be very helpful.

 To learn more about Breakthrough To Success, Click HERE

Blessings for today

1.I really value this peaceful quiet time at home today to focus on what I need and want to do without distractions. Where would I be without it?

2. My professional re-accreditation forms arrived in the post and they have been extraordinarily simplified. Now thats a saving in time and energy for me and where time is precious I really appreciate that.

3. An opportunity arose for me to go to a live performance with some friends I haven't seen for a long time. I thank the divine universe for creating this free opportunity.

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