Ten Tips For Setting (And Keeping) Life Changing Resolutions

It's time for that annual ritual of making (and breaking) our New Year's resolutions. There is something about the idea of being able to start over that motivates us to pause (at least briefly) and reflect on our lives as they are, as well as how we would like them to be. Yet how many times have you thought back to last year's goals and found that many or most of them were abandoned or just forgotten after a few weeks or months into the year?

Many of us have difficulty following through on our resolutions due to factors such as choosing unrealistic goals, not making them challenging enough and/or lacking the necessary motivation to stick with them. The following tips should help put you on the right course and assist you in staying committed to your most important goals for 2003.

Start with a life vision

If you don't know what you want your future to look like, how can you decide what areas of your life need to be worked on? Spend some quiet time TODAY reflecting on (and writing down) what is good, bad or incomplete. Then try to "see" your life if all of these areas were addressed and had become satisfactory to you.

Get organized

Clear away clutter. Go through paperwork, files, old bills and receipts, closets, drawers and storage containers. Decide what you need and will use and either throw out or give away all the rest. Put aside some time each week for this purpose. After you have cleaned out you can think about your existing systems for management and storage and see if these need reworking or just some fine-tuning. Keep ONE calendar to record all appointments, events, etc. Write down everything- don't rely on memory.

Expand your horizons and make a commitment to learning something new.

Challenging yourself will infuse you with greater energy and sense of purpose. It will help build your self-esteem to realize you really are capable of more than you had previously believed. This new learning can also give you additional resources to assist you in your career, personal or love life.

Set challenging but realistic resolutions

Choose goals that stretch your ability muscles, yet are realistic and therefore less vulnerable to failure. Don't respond to that negative inner voice that says; "oh, I'm not capable of that". Instead, focus on what you truly desire for your life and relationships and let this be your guide.

Write down your resolutions

Write them down and stick them on your bathroom mirror, your fridge, your car dashboard, your desk or wherever you know will be a good place for you to see them. You can also show them to a good friend, family member, your coach or anyone who could provide support and encouragement.

Create action steps for each resolution; write them down, and keep an accounting of your progress for each.

A resolution without planned action is doomed to failure. Break each goal down into small action steps or objectives. Putting a date for completion will help ensure you follow through. Come up with an accountability system that will work for you. Make sure you check off each accomplishment as you go and be flexible and willing to make adjustments in your action steps in order to achieve your desired end results.

Take care of yourself; eat well. Exercise regularly and learn to control and eliminate unhealthy stress.

I know this is an obvious one, so why is it often ignored or overlooked when we are attempting to make important life changes? How many times have you said, "I don't have the time" to eat right, exercise, sleep adequately, etc? Not caring for yourself will guarantee failure. So, why not make this your first and most important resolution for 2003?

Work to eliminate bad habits

Including this as a New Year's resolution would put you on the road to good follow-through. Bad habits will sabotage your efforts and use up your limited resources of time, energy and focus. For each bad habit you decide to eliminate, have a good habit in mind to replace it with.

Set appropriate and healthy limits in all areas of your life

Knowing your limits and enforcing them with yourself and others is a prerequisite to a healthy life and relationship. Learn to say "no" and "enough" and be firm in your resolve that this is a good thing to do. Otherwise, you will also be undermining your resolution to take care of yourself.

Work to be the kind of person you want to be with

Bringing out the best qualities in yourself will help to ensure that you attract people of good quality into your life. You wouldn't want to compromise on the standards you have set for a potential mate. Therefore, it's important to understand that this also holds true for other people in search of relationships.

Now begin this year with the resolve to be the person you know you have the potential to be. You'll be pleased with the wonderful changes that await you!

Toni Coleman, MSW is a licensed psychotherapist and relationship coach with over 20 years of experience. As a recognized expert, Toni has been quoted in many local and national publications including: The Chicago Tribune and The Orlando Sentinel newspapers and Family Circle, Woman's Day, and Star magazines. She has been featured on ABC News; Discovery Health Channel and AOL Online. As a weekly contributing commentator on the KTRS Radio Morning Show, (St. Louis, MO), Toni offers dating tips and relationship advice in response to listener feedback. Toni founded Consum-mate.com in 2002 to offer singles the knowledge and tools they need to find and sustain healthy, lasting love relationships. She is a member of The International Coach Federation, and The International Association Of Coaches.

---

Self-Concept and Self-Actualization: Nucleus of Shyness and Social Anxiety Disorder

In the dynamics of the self-concept and in the tendency... Read More

Why Character and Integrity Are So Important

It's been said that character is defined by what you... Read More

The Art of Possibility

"Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams.... Read More

Create Your Best Life

"You can create what you want in life; first you... Read More

How To Know You Are Living Your Dream

How To Prove To Yourself That You Are Going After... Read More

Business Intuition: Using the HeartMind

Many scientific studies have demonstrated the reality of intuition for... Read More

10 Common Money And Success Myths ? Part 1

For the longest time, people believed that the earth was... Read More

Passion Play

I remember a football game from last season when the... Read More

Harvest Moon Lessons

The full moon in September is often bigger and brighter... Read More

Five Ways To Create On Purpose By Living In The Moment

What can you do to really immerse yourself into living... Read More

Are You The Worlds Expert On Yourself?

Congratulations! You are the world's expert.That's right: you are the... Read More

A Mini LOA T-ToolTM

The Law of Attraction T-ToolTM is the single most useful... Read More

The Take-off!

"I just can't start a conversation with women, and it's... Read More

Creating Your Character is Like an Artist Creating a Sculpture

(excerpted from the Cultivating an Unshakable Character series)Could creating your... Read More

Ten Tips For Setting (And Keeping) Life Changing Resolutions

It's time for that annual ritual of making (and breaking)... Read More

How To Make Your Dreams Come True

Editors Note: Family Circle Interview (2003) with Dr. Wayne Dyer:Could... Read More

First Impressions ? Turn Fear Into Courage

The top business people all say the same thing ?... Read More

Communication Expert Reveals 5 Keys To Self Expression Without Limits

Peter Murphy recently interviewed communication expert John Barker. John is... Read More

Right Thinking

Nothing ever happens by chance. Everything, good or bad, that... Read More

How The Power of Attraction Can Help You Get What You Want?

"Success is not to be pursued; it is to be... Read More

Motivation for Life: What Would You Do if You Could Have a Do Over?

"The only thing it takes 365 days to change is... Read More

How To Become Insane

Somebody once said that insanity is doing the same thing... Read More

Hearts Made Strong

The heart seems to be one of the most vulnerable... Read More

The Monkey And The Spreadsheet

When the mind was fidgety, like a monkeyWhen you felt... Read More

The Centre of Creative Powers!

Evolution is nothing but seeking with clarity, demanding clarity at... Read More

Are You Irresistibly Attractive?

If you've done any reading on the subject of marketing,... Read More

Lottery Winners Lose It All

You have heard it time and again. Lottery Winners lose... Read More

What are You Creating?

Before you left school, did any of your teachers sit... Read More

Success -- There Are No Secrets

There Are No Secrets To SuccessAs you strive toward accomplishing... Read More

Did Your Personality Choose Your Career?

We almost all think we are masters of our own... Read More

Blushing

Blushing can be a curse. Blushers experience a range of... Read More

So, The Thing Is... We Reap What We Sow

So, the thing is? we reap what we sow.A few... Read More

Character or Reputation

Character or Reputation. When we see these two words together,... Read More