Get Prepared For The New Year

It's getting to be that time of year again--time to start thinking about New Year's Resolutions (or at least time to start thinking about thinking about them). Sure, there are many people who have tried resolutions in the past, failed, and sworn them off. There are people who have decided that they're passe'. But for most people, the new year presents such an excellent opportunity for a fresh start, such a blank canvass and inspiration for self-improvement, that at least considering a few positive changes proves irresistible. And I'm one of those people!

They key to making the new year work for you is to go about setting your goals in a way that will ensure success, or at least stack the odds in your favor. Most of us have made goals that, in February or March, we realize we've abandoned. Most of us have slipped up and given up. The key is to set a series of realistic, specific and reachable goals, build in rewards for yourself, and have a few tricks up your sleeve. (Read more about setting goals for the new year if you want to find yourself succeeding!)

But before you go about making formal goals and resolutions, it's a good idea to just visualize what you want to see happen in your life. Would you like to have a healthier body? Would you like your home to soothe (rather than stress) you? Would you like to build up more supportive relationships? Or would you just like to have some more coping skills to deal with all the stress in your life?

Today, I encourage you to just visualize what you'd like to see happen in your life. If you have a few minutes, you might really find it helpful to explore this through journaling, or even create a vision board to flesh out what you want and use the law of attraction to give yourself a head start. Whatever form your visualizations take, start thinking about what you'd like in 2009. I'll have more tools to help you find success, and we'll all work toward our goals together!