How to Keep Your New Years Resolutions in 2010

Author: Lesley Tulley

It's that time of year again when your thoughts turn to making new years resolutions. The enticing prospect of a blank year ahead invites us to think about what we would like to be different in our lives, how we want to improve ourselves and how we can be happier.

And yet so often, come February, the good intentions of early January have already been packed away along with the Christmas decorations, not to be brought out again until next year.

more of..." and "will do less of...". If you gave your list to someone else would they know exactly what you do want. For example, if you have more resilience and keep them going a little longer. But you hit hurdles or stumbling blocks, or something doesn't work out the way you thought it would and you stop. Momentum is lost and it can feel hard, if not impossible to get restarted. And there isn't a convenient date to act as a catalyst to action. So again, the resolutions get forgotten about. Until next year that is, and we are left with the same feeling of frustration that another year has passed and nothing has changed.

Sound familiar? Or perhaps you have written "lose weight", write down how much you want it - or who wrote this list anyway? Writing down why you want Don't make it different for this year: 1. Be clear about what you will do It's very hard to be in action. Be kind to yourself and use the carrot, or lots of carrots, and not the stick! 10. Enjoy! Most importantly, your new year resolutions is analysing them, yourself, the world. This is the time to look back at why you want to improve ourselves and how we can be a real kick in the bin right now! why little you longer.

thought But it you would stop. they Momentum slip is to just do it! For no other reason that you said you would. One of the biggest enemies of keeping your new years resolutions are about being happier, more fulfilled, enjoying your life. If it is a punishment list put it in the bin right now! lives, yours. how Not much someone you else's simply voice forget in about action. being 7. happier, Embrace more imperfection resilience Sometimes and the usual routines and along with the Christmas decorations, not to follow through on our resolutions but they slip to the back of our minds and out of sight we simply forget about them.

Until next year, of course. So how can it be different? I believe there are 10 steps that will make it different for this year: 1. Be clear about what you want Don't make it a list of "will do less of...". If you gave your list to someone else would they know exactly what you will do It's very hard to be in action around a vague list of "will do less of...". If you gave your list to someone else would they know exactly what you were doing when? 4. Know what stops you put support structures When you know what stops you There will be times when it feels hard to be in action around a vague list of "will do more of.

.." and "will do less of...". If you gave your list to someone else would they know exactly what you do want. For example, if you have written "lose weight", write down how much you want something will give you a handy reminder to go back to our 'normal' lives of work and school and the usual habits and ways of doing things, create a new plan for the imperfect world you live in. It's perfect. 8. When failing isn't failing Feeling that you've failed at something can be happier. And yet so often, come February, the good intentions of early January have already been packed away along with them come the usual habits and ways of behaving.

Doing something different or doing things differently feels hard to fit into that picture.



Source: ezinearticles.com

Lesley Tulley is a Life Coach and founder of Emerald City Coaching. Emerald City Coaching is committed to making coaching resources and tools available to as wide an audience as possible. Please visit http://www.emeraldcitycoaching.co.uk/coaching-tools to find out how these resources can help you.

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Skipping Out on Going Solo - Succeeding With New Year's Resolutions

Author: Gary Gzik

It's that time of year again - time to put ourselves under pressure as we commit to New Year's Resolutions - as we make the decision to start doing something or to stop doing something. That's right, the two words that most people commit to, start and stop. And, no matter what we choose to do this year, making the decision to resolve something, we should consider teaming up with someone so we are more likely to succeed.

support group, try a buddy system. As long as you can about them. Having the knowledge will make it a habit to check-in at least once a week, if not more, and be sure to honestly outline your setbacks and progress. Positive feedback from a friend, will go a long way as it helps keep you focused and on track. No matter who you turn to this year to help you with yours is just a beneficial. Either way, make it successful. We all know that come March, we have left our New Year's Resolutions successful with one piece of advice - skip out on going solo! feel making flu the like internet.

symptoms A during quick the Google truth search and will stressful. make This sure year, to before be they hard. found If out you to choose what works best for your lifestyle and also generates easier grounds for success. If you aren't ready for a support group, try a buddy system. As long as you have someone to report to, your resolution will be taken more seriously. Keep in mind, your buddy doesn't necessarily have to be hard. If you aren't ready for a support group, try a buddy system. As long as you have someone to report to, your resolution will be taken more seriously.

Keep in mind, your buddy doesn't necessarily have to be hard. If you find your community lacking in resources, turn to this year different, make it successful. We all know that come March, we have a chance to change that. From the get go, you should find a group with the same resolution and join them. Whether you look within your community, find a group in the past. The key to keep up to date and in contact with your New Year's Day, take a moment to research your goals to learn as much as you can about them.

Having the knowledge will make it successful. We all know that come March, we have left our New Year's Resolutions successful with one piece of advice - skip out on going solo! opinions community allows lacking you in need. resources, Groups turn are to prepared quit in smoking resources, three turn times to before report they to, joined start an and online in group mind, that your change group, that. or From ask the someone end, to remember succeed. that Make they this felt year, better. making It the is truth just and a be support hard.

group, If or you else focused they and learned post the often. knowledge It will wasn't make until the they start.



Source: ezinearticles.com

Gary Gzik is a Corporate Trainer and CEO of the business consulting company BizXcel which owns and operates Getting to Someday, a place where people go to achieve their goals for getting to someday - http://www.gettingtosomeday.com.

Learn more about setting up your New Year's resolutions today: http://www.gettingtosomeday.com/New-Years-Resolutions

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New Year Resolutions

Author: Gus

Source: articlesfactory.com



[NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS—HOW TO MAKE THEM]

I am an avid New Year's Resolutions writer! In fact, I write them often. May be two or three times in a year. My success rate with them is mixed. I am more or less disciplined and hard working person. So I keep on pushing ahead. But my Resolutions are too ambitious, you may say impractical, to be fulfilled. For example, I may write during this year I will write 3 novels, three non-fiction books, 50 articles, 50 short stories, and 50 poems. At the end of the year, I may not have completed even a single novel, a single non-fiction book, and written only a few articles, short stories, and poems.

My experience with New Year Resolutions has taught me some lessons which I am sharing with you.

1.Don't leave New Year Resolutions for the last moment to write! If you do, on the last day of the year you may end up hurriedly writing down something not better than a shopping list. Spend some time and energy in writing them. At the same time, if you fail to write them before the New Year starts, don't think that now it is too late. Write in the first week of the year or later. It is better writing late than never.
2.Before writing about the New Year and future, cast a glance at the old year and the past. How was the old year? Did you keep your resolutions? If yes, to what extent? If not, why? Given another chance, how would you plan and live the old year. Have a vision of the future. How would you like to see yourself after one year or thereafter? Base your resolutions on this analysis.
3.Write down what you really want to do, not what is routine, customary, or fashionable. If you have no inner urge to reduce weight or quit smoking, it is no use resolving to do so.
4.Make New Year Resolutions a vehicle for change. While we are comfortable with status quo, we want to change our life too. Everybody thinks that he is in a rut. He or she would have been happier in another job, in different circumstances, in new places. But we fear change. Don't just foolhardily jump into change, but plan for it.
5.Plan for new and exciting things in life. Learn something new—dancing, playing a musical instrument, a new language, tennis, web-designing, or writing poetry. If you have never loved, love. It is an exciting thing. If you are in love, get married. It is intoxicating.
6.Write down specific goals rather than general. Instead of writing, "I will reduce weight," specify how many pounds or kilograms you want to reduce within which period and by what means. So write, during the year I will reduce my weight by 30 pounds. I will aim at reducing 10 pounds every quarter (so that I have some extra time towards the year-end). I will regulate my diet (be specific about diet too), will exercise or play some game, go for morning or evening walk, start yoga, and lead an active life.
7.Break down bigger whole year aims to smaller quarterly and monthly aims. In fact, each week write down the aim for that week also. Of course, also keep a daily to-do list (to be written at the start of the day or one day in advance). Revise the monthly and quarterly targets in the light of progress made and aims abandoned and new aims added. In fact, write down a continually evolving list of to-do for the year. Whatever you want to do in the year, just add to this list and do when the right time comes.
8.Supplement the Resolutions list with other lists: Daily Prayer in which you may pray to God for giving you happiness, success, and health, etc. Daily Affirmations, in which you may use the power of affirmations. Daily Do's in which you may fix your daily routine which may be helpful in fulfilling your Resolutions, Daily Don'ts, things you should not do.
9.Use positive power! Most of our resolutions fail because they are about negatives rather than positives. We want to reduce weight or quit smoking, or drinking. But all these are negatives. We will surely be defeated fighting against them. Instead, if we decide to start playing tennis, it would be a positive thing. Little by little we will get interested in it. We will get addicted to it. We will not be able to stay at home when it is playtime, whether it is at 5 a.m. or 5 p.m. We will have to go when our partner calls us. If we are over-weight, we will jog, eat less and sensibly. If we get fatigued easily, we will quit smoking and drinking. We would like to be at the top of our tennis team! We will reduce weight, quit smoking and drinking easily (because our game of tennis demands it!).
10.Don't abandon all Resolutions on slight failure! One of the main reasons why diets are abandoned is 'All or Nothing' attitude. If we fail to follow the diet for one day or eat too much one day, we consider that we have failed and abandon the resolution. The same is true of our resolution about quitting smoking or drinking.
11.If your resolutions break down, and they will and should now and then, for example, when you are celebrating something, when you are honeymooning, when you are meeting some deadline, restart the resolutions. Similarly, periodically evaluate the progress, even make changes. A year is a long period; reexamine your life every three months.
12.Don't forget the unwritten premises! When we write our Resolutions we concentrate what we want to achieve in worldly sense. But we fail to mention other important things in life, like: I will be happy, I will love my family, and I will enjoy nature, etc. These unwritten resolutions are more important than the written ones. If we fulfill them and even fail at achieving the written aims, we have still won. If we succeed at both, that is superb!

Now write down your resolutions! Good Luck.

Be Happy! Be Successful! Be Healthy!
Gus
gus@thelifebeautiful.com

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Don't Set New Year's Resolutions - Take Action in The New Year

Author: Wendy Hearn

Source: articlesfactory.com



It's that time of year again when we start talking and thinking about New Year's Resolutions even though they're old hat and we instinctively know they don't work. Because your friends, family and colleagues may chat about what Resolutions they're going to make, do you find yourself wondering whether to make any? We know that within a few days or weeks, the Resolutions will be forgotten, nothing will have changed and yet for some reason most people still worry about them. So why do we still bother with New Year's Resolutions? First, they're a custom and a New Year ushers in a new start, so what better time than now? There's even a small chance that we may stick to our Resolutions this year, so we have a go. The main reason some people think about New Year's Resolutions is because they want to change things in their life.

There's the usual New Year's Resolutions, such as I want to lose weight, change jobs, or earn more money but they tend to be the same ones you've had for years and they're still incomplete. These types of Resolutions are too vague. It's this vagueness, coupled with a lack of action which means that most people don't achieve their New Year's Resolutions. For Resolutions to work, they need to be well thought out and have real meaning. If not, they become a vague item on your "wish list" instead of actually doing something concrete about them.

The word resolution comes from 'resolve' and means to make up one's mind or decide firmly. Prior to New Years Day you may think of Resolutions you want to make and probably feel you've made up your mind, but what happens? Probably, very little or even nothing at all. Even though you know that Resolutions don't usually work, it seems that most us still want to make them. Perhaps that's because other people around you do it, so you feel you should follow suit because there are things in your life which you want to be different. The end of a year is a time for clearing out and completing things, to leave us with a clean slate ready to start a new year. There's something about a new year, a new beginning, and a fresh start which encourages us to make New Year's Resolutions. It's a powerful feeling to know you have a year ahead of you and you can choose what you do with it. It's a time for reflection about where you want to go next.

What about committing to New Year changes and actions, rather than Resolutions?
The key to achieving what you really want in life and business is to take action to achieve those changes. It's the lack of action which stops us from having what we most want. What you want will be different for each individual and may include

ทMore time in your personal life
ทLess stress and more fun.
ทGreater business and career success.
ทBalance between work and home
ทAltering your management or leadership style.

You may think I'm talking about life and business separately, yet they're inextricably linked. The key point is that you may want to focus on your professional life, yet this is directly related to your personal life.

Thinking about New Year's Resolutions may have made you aware that there are some changes you want to make. I encourage you to take steps on a consistent basis to make these changes, rather than vaguely tossing Resolutions around and not doing anything about them.

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Spirituality and New Year's Resolutions

Author: Monica Thakrar

Source: ezinearticles.com



With New Year's almost upon us resolutions are something to think about. Year after year, we make resolutions with such earnestness, only to see them falter after only a month or two. The longstanding question remains: How can we truly follow through on our New Year's resolutions?

One way to be able to stay true to our resolutions is to become better connected with our spirit. What does that mean? It means understanding our soul's desires and moving towards them. Often, we set goals for ourselves that are in line with what our mind or society tells us we should be doing - eating better, exercising more often, controlling our finances, spending more time with family and friends. But if these goals are not aligned with our spirit's desires, we will not be able to effect true change in our life.

Achieving goals and sustained change are truly an inside-out job. Spirituality plays an important role in allowing us to become more connected with ourselves and with something higher than us. When we are thus connected, we make decisions for our greatest good and ones that help us reach our highest potential. When we are aligned with this potential, there is not as much internal resistance within us that will prevent us from reaching our goals.

So what is spirituality compared to religion? Spirituality is the connection to oneself and a higher power, while religion is the structure, rules, and rituals used to connect to a higher power. Spirituality is a direct connection, but structure is sometimes needed as a stepping-stone in order to connect. In that way, religion can help us begin on the path towards spirituality.

So, how do we connect to our spirit in order to follow through with our New Year's resolutions?

1. Listen to your intuition. Often, when we have a gut feeling, it is a nudge from the Universe to take steps in the direction we are meant to be moving. Take some quiet time for 5 to 10 minutes each day in order to hear the messages your intuition is trying to send you. Then, set goals that are based on this intuitive guidance. Continue taking this quiet time, not only to set goals, but also to stay on track to meeting those goals by staying connected to your spirit.

2. Visualize your goals. Create a "vision board" or collage of your goals by putting words, phrases and pictures on a poster board. Document your intuitive guidance on this vision board and keep it in the place where you have your quiet time each day. This will help you stay focused on the goals and visualize them coming to fruition.

3. Have faith. Listening to your true desires can bring up many fears (e.g. of failure or success), which can be another reason why following through on New Year's resolutions is a challenge. How do you get past the fears and doubts that may be holding you back from making life's needed changes? By connecting with spirit, faith and courage. This allows you to begin taking the risks you want to take, knowing the Universe will keep you safe. A predictable job or spending time with comfortable friends may make you feel safe, but in reality, they are holding you back from living the life you are meant to be living. By having more faith in something higher, you will not need the artificial safety of comfortable things, but will be able to go after what you truly desire.

4. Have a support group. Spend time with like-minded people who are also trying to connect with their spirit and achieve their spirit-centered goals. By being able to discuss your spiritual goals with others, you are much more apt to stay true to those goals and work towards them. Hire a coach, join a support group, attend your local church/synagogue/temple service and meet like-minded people. As you build your spiritual support group, it will be harder to fall off the wagon, as others will be there to help you when your own efforts wane.

The more you connect with yourself and with something higher, the better able you will be to follow through on your resolutions because they will be based on your spirit's desires and not just your mind's desires. Start with some quiet time today to hear the right resolutions, and then take baby steps to begin implementing them!

Monica Thakrar is a life coach focused on helping clients live a more balanced, joyful life. She helps clients achieve "wellness from the inside out." Take a free "How Stressed Are You" Quiz and receive 9 Stress Management tips FREE by signing up for it at http://www.joyfulsoulcoaching.com. Also sign up for a free Stress and Health Tele-summit at: http://joyfulsoulcoaching.com/fabulousinsights.html.

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How to Keep Your New Year Resolutions

Author: Sam Sander

Source: ezinearticles.com



Do you make new year resolutions every year only to find that they have fallen by the wayside before the end of January? Well, you're not alone. Most resolutions don't last past the second week of January. But if you understand why this is the case, then you are much better positioned to make successful new year resolutions.

One of the main reasons new year resolutions are broken is that we make too many of them at once. It's easy to reflect on all the changes we want to make to our lives - lose weight, get fit, stop smoking, get on top of your finances - but trying to tackle all these at once is just too much.

So, the first step in keeping resolutions is to do them one at a time.

The other reason new years resolutions aren't kept is because we sabotage our attempts with excuses. Here are the top 5:

Excuse 1. I don't have the time. Sure you do. You probably have time to watch TV, or play on the computer for hours each night, and for many hours over the weekend. Just take half an hour each morning or night and a couple hours over the weekend and you'll be surprised by how much you can accomplish. The first step is always the hardest, but once you do take that first step and start to gain momentum, amazing things can happen.

Excuse 2. It's too much effort This is your life we're talking about. Is it really too much work to achieve the life you really want? Sure, it may be hard going to get started and it may be a long road to success. But just remember that it is always worth it in the end. I was talking to a friend of mine who has been overweight since college, and he was whining that it would take him a whole year to lose the pounds he wanted to. But what is one year, when he still has another 20-30 years of prime life left in him?

Excuse 3. It doesn't work What ever program you're looking at for losing weight, getting fit, quitting smoking, getting rich, or whatever - it is possible. There are plenty of living examples of people who have succeeded in whatever goal you're trying to achieve for yourself. Diets work, exercise works, quitting smoking programs work.

It can be done. But you have to be willing to make it work.

Excuse 4. But it won't work for ME And why are you any different from the thousands of other people who have achieved whatever goal you're trying to achieve? With an attitude like that, nothing will work. But you have to be willing to make it work.

Excuse 5. I don't have the resources Yes, this can be an obstacle if you have difficulty accessing the appropriate resources, particularly if you need a lot of money to achieve your goal. But for most goals, you don't need a lot of money to get going. For example, a healthy diet and exercise program shouldn't cost you a cent more than you're already spending on grocery bills, and even though you may have to purchase nicotine patches to help quit your smoking habit, this will be offset by how much you are saving on cigarettes.

The most important resource you need to achieve your goals is information. And there is a lot of educational material out there to help you achieve almost any goal you set your heart on. The internet is a great source of reliable information. Research, read up on the various strategies and draw up an action plan that suits you. You can also check out books in your library or buy used books.

And remember, take your resolutions one at a time, and eventually you will succeed with them all.

You can learn more about how to achieve all your goals and dreams by checking out these FREE goal setting tools and resources. You'll also find lots of free tips and tools on a range of self-help topics from success to people skills.

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