It’s here again, that time of year when we all make New Year’s resolutions. Actually, I’m all for resolutions, goals, 
intentions. Let’s go for it! Only this time, I’d like to be serious about it. Too often in the past, I’ve made resolutions that I knew I wouldn’t even really attempt to keep. You know the type, ‘I resolve to lose 20 pounds and get in the best shape of my life…by February 1st’. That sort of resolution isn’t really meant to work; it’s just something to say before toasting to the New Year.
As a life coach, it’s very important to me that I set my goals, plan my resolutions with the intention of carrying through with them. Now that doesn’t mean to make them easy, no-brainer goals, not at all. I still believe in shooting for the stars, but I’d like to do it in a manner that I actually believe will be completely successful.
So, here’s how I plan to go about it.
1. I discover what my hopes and dreams are by doing new vision boards. I usually do one board, but this year I feel the need to do several. I will most likely do one for health and fitness, another for vacation and travel, a third for home and gardens, etc.
2. Feel and express my gratitude. I believe before I can expect to bring new wonderful things into my life, I need to be grateful for what is already making my life terrific. For instance, I’m not going to carry on and crab about a somewhat less than perfect physical body, instead I will focus everyday on how grateful I am that I have a body that functions well, gets me everywhere I would like to go, sees, hears and thinks very efficiently and generally has served me very well.
3. Spend a bit of time visualizing my goal and feeling what I will feel like when I have achieved my goal. I will picture myself at what I consider my physical optimum, possibly see myself running effortlessly, swimming strongly or biking up a hill. I will allow myself to feel the excitement of knowing that I can run, swim or bike as far as I want and feel strong, happy, pleased with the accomplishment.
4. Let it go. Release the thought with the knowledge and full expectation that this new me is becoming reality right at this very moment. One of my favorite authors, Doreen Virtue, put it something like this; when you are in a restaurant you select your sandwich, put in your order and wait for it to arrive. You know that your sandwich is coming because you have asked for it, you don’t doubt it, and you don’t keep asking the waiter for your sandwich. You simply wait expectantly knowing that it’s going to be perfect when it arrives.
5. When the dream is realized – and I believe it will be, I simply offer my thanks again.
I truly believe that everything we experience is something that we have asked for, intentionally or not. So, I try to think in positive terms. If I want to be debt-free, I don’t focus on debt, I focus on having enough prosperity and abundance to cover my wants and my needs. Focusing on the negative, the debt portion will only bring about more debt, focusing on the abundance and prosperity will bring about plenty.
So, that’s it. The life coach in me realizes that it’s extremely important to have a goal or an intention. Taking action is putting those goals and intentions down on paper, looking at them and spending a few minutes every day visualizing and enjoying the feeling of success. Again, the life coach in me is not done, I will assess and reassess, tweaking and changing as life goes on and changes.
2009 is going to be full of changes, and change can be very exciting. I hope you are going to reach for the stars because the stars are all there waiting for you to reach out and grab them, I can see you now, swinging on your own personal star. 🙂
I hope you enjoy the remainder of 2008 and plan a fabulous 2009!
With warmth and excitement,
Sandy
