How To Make 2008 Your Best Year Yet

A new year has begun, and with it come all our resolutions. If you are among those who don’t have any this year, read about a condition you may be suffering from known as IDD, or Intention Deficit Disorder.

For the rest of you, it’s time to take a closer look at what are called resolutions. I want you to take a moment and in your mind, go out into the future. Just go out to January of 2009 and look back to now. Was 2008 the year you made your aims a reality? If not, you can take a new direction in the now.

Resolutions. You have surely made them before. Did you keep them? That’s what I thought. If you’re like most people, you have made resolutions that you failed to keep. Whether it was to kick the smoking habit, cut down on the chocolate cake or finally get to the gym, something stopped you from following through. So if resolutions don’t work, why make them again?

We need a new and more effective way of making the things we want a reality. I suggest resolving to have goals instead of resolutions. At least we tend to accomplish those some of the time.

When you want anything at all, the first step is to formulate clearly both in your mind and in words what it is that you want. What would it look like, sound like and feel like? You need a concrete representation of your goal to motivate you, and this representation needs to be compelling. See what you want to have big, bright, in full colour and surround sound. Make it real in your mind. Crank up the emotional volume so you really want it!

Next, ask yourself, “What stops me from having this?” The answer to that question will tell you exactly what obstacles you need to overcome to get what you want.

But setting goals is not enough. You need to set them the right way, and once they are set, you need a surefire way to achieve them. If you look back on your past successes and failures, you will see how effective your method for setting and achieving goals is. If it hasn’t proven especially effective it’s time to take action. Take a look at Jeff Herring’s Top 10 Steps to Successful Goals to get your new year off to a great start and make sure it has a successful finish.