Are resolutions an utter waste of time or is there something magical about setting the mind on a specific yearlong goal? The end of the year, or the beginning of a new one can have a triggering affect for many people. Some take the time to reflect and anguish over missed opportunities. Others celebrate over newfound success. Whichever category you fell into last year, there is hope for you to turn failure and despair into success and celebration. Follow these 4 strategies for making your resolutions into your reality. 1. Get clear: Clarity is power. The key to turning resolutions into reality begins with getting a clear picture of the goal you desire. That goal must be crystal clear, ever present and attractive. Your mind is designed to bring into reality that which you deeply desire. However, in order to do that you must be able to transform those desires into a clear vivid picture. Nothing happens unless it first happens in the mind. 2. Maintain your focus: It is not enough to just get a clear picture of your goal once or twice and then move on to other things. In order to activate this law of mind you must maintain your focus for an extended period of time. Almost to a point of obsession. Eventually your mind will pick up and internalize your goal. At that point you will be led to success. Things will begin to fall into place. People who's assistance you need will begin to appear in your life. Ideas will spring into your mind and things will begin to happen that will seem almost magical. However these actions only occur once the goal is internalized. Internalization only happens by consistently maintaining the goal within the focus of your mind. 3. Trust: Many take this formula and simply don't believe it is in fact true. Yes they try these four steps, half-heartedly, but deep inside they don't believe they are capable of success. So when the mind begins to try to direct them, they doubt. They stall. They give up. In order for this mental guidance to work, you need to follow the two steps above, and then have enough faith to follow through on the inspirations and opportunities that will come your way. In short, you need to trust. If you are afraid to make errors or mistakes, get over it. You are going to make them anyway. Have fun making mistakes. Mistakes provide the best lessons in life. In addition, if you try something and it doesn't work, guess what, now you know what doesn't work. Now you are better than before. When it comes to taking risk, always remember the old basketball adage, "You miss every shot you don't take." 4. Create a support team: This final step is highly recommended. In reality, you can't make any resolution into a reality without the support, help or assistance of others. Yet by intelligently employing others you can manifest your desires much quicker. A good idea is to create an association with someone who is committed to a goal similar to yours. In fact, the more people you can put together that share the same goals the better the flow of ideas will be between the group. This can propel the attainment of success a thousand fold. Find people that share your desires and create a mastermind alliance with them. The beginning of a New Year can be an exciting time for setting goals and creating a vision of the future that is inspiring. However to turn resolutions into reality takes focus and commitment. Use the four steps reviewed here to manifest your desires. Dare to dream bigger and act as if anything you desire can be yours. Then make it happen.

This article begins with an edited copy of an article I read in the Herald-Sun newspaper, December 29, 2007, Melbourne, Australia by journalists KATE UEBERGANG and MEGAN MCNAUGHT. Following the newspaper article I have included tips on how to start the SMART plan for achieving those New Years' resolutions. We conclude this article with a surprise bonus technique, Letter from the Future. You will need to read through the whole article to appreciate the benefits of Letter from the Future but I do promise the technique is worth a try. Fat Chance This is the time of year we decide to remake ourselves anew. But are we just setting ourselves up for failure? Whether it's a determination to lose weight, a pledge to quit smoking or a vow to master a new language and learn to play the piano, New Year's resolutions are often set in a blaze of inspiration and determination. So why are they often abandoned by the second week of January? And why do we make the same old resolutions 12 months later? A new year is a logical time to reassess goals and dreams for the future, but experts say if you want to achieve real change you need to do more than just wish for it. The Trick in Goal Setting "The trick in goal setting is that most people confuse goals with desired outcomes," says psychologist Prof Bob Montgomery. "You might wish to lose some weight, and people think that's goal setting." "But that is good intentions or wishful thinking." "Goal setting is actually laying out a plan for actions you can take to lead to a desired outcome." "One way people fail is they set goals that ore outside their control. If you set a goal it has to be one that you yourself are responsible for." "And you have to set a goal that has a chance of success." "If you set unachievable goals you will fail." Try a Life-Long Resolution Clinical hypnotherapist Mark Stephens has more than 25 years' experience in helping people achieve their personal aims. Stephens says, "Over the next few days our resolutions are going to be, 'get fit', 'lose weight', 'get healthy' and 'stop smoking'". "People say they're going to set a New Year's resolution, but the problem is the New Year only lasts for a day or so." "It needs to be a whole-year resolution or a life-long resolution." "Already that mindset increases your chance of success." So it's very apparent if we want to do more than just dream and wish for significant changes in our lives during 2008 and beyond we need to start the S.M.A.R.T. plan. If you are already familiar with the SMART way to achieve your goals then the rest of this article might serve as a timely reminder of how effective the method really is. If you do not yet know how simple the S.M.A.R.T. system works then read on. Goals must be SMART To set and achieve clearly defined goals they must be SMART goals. · S specific - vague goals lead to vague, half-hearted attempts to achieve them. · M measurable - we need to be ableto evaluate and quantify our progress. · A attractive - if we don't really want it, we won't really go for it. · R realistic - we must be capable of achieving the goal. · T time-framed - we need to have an appropriate time frame for a result. A simple example of a SMART plan for success is when Cassandra set herself a goal to lose some weight. Here's what Cassandra did - S - I plan to lose weight in time for my birthday party. M - I will lose 5 kg's to reach my target weight. A - When I reach my weight goal I will fit into my new outfit in time for the party. R - Not sure if I can make it within two months but I will try. T - I will complete my goal by the target date of February 6, 2008. Maintaining motivation A key to maintaining your motivation is to see that you are moving in the direction you want to go and that you are gaining the benefit of your efforts. To do this you need to be able to measure your success. If your actions bring you closer to your goal, if you can see that what you are doing really works, then your motivation will increase. If you also understand that change of any kind is difficult and that in any change process you will not feel motivated all the time, you will be able to work with the degree of motivation you feel you have on any given day or moment. I have a surprise bonus to this article I promised earlier. This technique will help with your motivation in many ways. Letter from the Future At first this may seem like a strange, even uncomfortable technique. In fact, although incredibly simple to do it is an unbelievably powerful tool to have in your goal setting tool bag of tricks. If there's only one thing you do for yourself in 2008 for self-improvement then do this! Many people including a senior leadership team of the Royal Australian Air Force, test pilots, captains of industry, school teachers, builders, construction workers, accountants and I have used this tool with success. I can attribute this one exercise and the rest of the material from the book, 'Coach Yourself - make real changes in your life' by Anthony Grant and Jane Greene (Pearson Education Limited) as helping me get back on track after a time of personal turmoil. The Procedure Grab a large piece of writing paper and put at the top of the page the date December 31, 2008. Yes - twelve months from now. Now imagine the year 2008 has been and gone almost and has gone really well for you. Things have turned out just the way you dreamed of. You have kept all your New Years' resolutions and have achieved all other goals you set for yourself during the year. You are now going to write from the future telling someone just how good it feels to have achieved so much during 2008. And the person you are writing to is YOU! That's right - imagine while writing your letter to yourself just how your life fees if you were totally satisfied and fulfilled with what you hope to achieve in the next twelve months. Writing the Letter from the Future allows you to think more clearly about aspects of your life and to identify clearly all the things that are most important to you right now. Engage Your Emotions As the experts have told us, just having a vision or dream of a happy future is not enough to get us there. You could sit down and think about what it is you want to achieve and imagine yourself living the dream. But writing the letter helps to engage your emotions. It seems this is where the power of the letter lies. Writing it down allows you to reach deep into your self and draw from inner motivators. It is the ideal combination of thought and action with the least amount of energy! The letter is for you and no one else except if you choose to share your letter with another. In the letter you can explore any aspect of your life, current or future. You need never show it to anyone. The closer to your deepest feelings you can get the more useful you will find the Letter from the Future exercise to be. Just for Procrastinators But personal experience tells me (and I was number one at procrastination) that some of you will not take the time to complete this simple technique. That's ok. I've got something for you and it should take no more than a few minutes to complete. Try right now to complete this sentence: 'If everything in my life had gone as well as it could have, by now I'd be . . . ' Then ask yourself: 'Which part of my life is not being fulfilled that I think would be fulfilled if I had achieved this? What can I do about it now?' Now do something! This item is for educational purposes only. In no sense is the information contained here meant to replace qualified medical, professional, legal, financial or psychological advice. Consult a qualified medical practitioner or psychologist in cases of illness, pregnancy, distress or doubt.

Are you ready to make 2008 an excellent year?  I've been searching the net for articles to help you achieve your goals for this year.  This month I will be sharing some of the more interesting articles here, so check back often. ___________________________________________________ You already know the laws of attraction can bring in your desires. When you are expanding your universal energy to attract more of your desires, it is important to live in the law in all your waking moments. You can learn to practice living using the laws 24/7. To shift to invite more into your life you need to shift one thought at a time. Here are five ways that occur in our daily lives that you can use to help towards living a full attraction day and bring in more of your desires: 1. When looking for a parking spot. See your desired spot being available for you. Feel it empty and waiting for you. It is waiting for you to drive right in. 2. Before going shopping for what you want, even if its shampoo, see it on sale. Listen to your body as to where you can find it on sale. Feel it in your hand. See yourself reaching for it off the shelf. Use this method whether it is something small you desire in a store, or to purchase the car or house of your desires, even use it for an item you desire that could be purchased on the Internet. 3. When reviewing your to-do list. See yourself checking off everything. See you completing every task with ease, passion, a delightful child-like giddiness. Feel yourself leaving your desk with everything completed and how you want it completed. 4. Being a tightwad can give you exactly what you practice. It stops attraction. That doesn't mean you spend ridiculously. There is a balance. This begins with a belief change. The new belief you want to change to is: "The more I spend, the more I make." 5. Feel the energy about receiving what you desire as gifts. Gifts people want to give you because they love what you are doing, as a thank you for what you have given to someone else. Weren't these easy thoughts. Now its time to implement them. Begin by working on one a day. Monday work on #1 and then continue it for the week. Tuesday pick up #2 and add it to #1. Wednesday add in #3 and add it to #2 and #1. And continue. Write each one on an index card. Place them in the place that is going to give you a reminder at the moment you need them. For example: #1 place the index card in all your cars. #2 place the card on your refrigerator or where you write down your shopping list. Begin practicing this in your kitchen even before you get to the store. #3 place by where you to-do list exists. #4 needs a mantra card. #5 cut out presents from a magazine and paste on a card.

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