The beauty of the beginning of a year is that it the renovates hope of change. Every year we write our goals, truly believing that we will follow that script strictly. We promise ourselves “This year I will…”

– Lose weight
– Get organized
– Make more money
– etc.
– etc.
– etc.

And unfortunately, year after year, the resolutions go down to the drain, sometimes in the first week of January… sometimes it lasts until March (words of a friend of mine who is a personal trainer)… but it rarely becomes an item crossed out of your list, and worse… out of our minds…

The thing is that these resolutions still live in the back of our minds because we know that implementing them is the right thing to do; that it would bring more happiness and fulfillment to our lives… so why can’t we do it????

I believe that the reason for our shortcomings is HOW we write our goals. Goals are nothing more than wishes if not well planned.

To be an achievable Goal’s list it needs to help us identify the aspects of our lives that we would like to improve. I found a list on Google that works very well for me:

* Spiritual -The focus is beliefs.
* Intellectual – The focus is knowledge.
* Psychological – The focus is emotions.
* Social – The focus is relationships.
* Recreational -The focus is fun.
* Professional – The focus is money.
* Physical – The focus is health.

After creating the general goals, CREATE STEPS TO MAKE THOSE GOALS HAPPEN.

Ex: General goal physical: Start gym
Breaking the goal into action:
Step one: join the gym.
Step two: block time to go to the gym…
Step three:write the time that you will go to the gym and honor that appointment as if it was a business one.

Note two important things:

1 – As silly as it seems, writing step-by-step helps your mind to digest the plan and visualize the path to take.

2 – The third step is the KEY to be successful on accomplishing your goal. Be truthful to yourself and prioritize your needs. Avoid transferring your prior commitments to accommodate others; I know that sometimes it is not possible, but as much as you can stick to your routine and it will be much easier to incorporate the resolutions into your life.

Happy 2013!