Two Easy to Keep New Year Resolutions

It is very difficult to keep most New Year resolutions, and in fact most are broken within a few days. I don't recommend making them anyway. Goal setting is a far better method of achieving what you want in your life, and is something which is constantly reviewed rather than just looked at once a year. I will spend several days in the near future explaining how to set powerful and life transforming goals. However, here are two New Year Resolutions which will be easy and fun to keep and will improve your life dramatically.

I want you to resolve to be more grateful for all the things that you already have in your life.

I also want you to resolve to be more happy.

Researchers at the University of California and University of Miami have discovered significant benefits of maintaining an attitude of gratitude.
· Those who kept gratitude journals on a weekly basis exercised more regularly, reported fewer physical symptoms, felt better about their lives as a whole and were more optimistic about the upcoming week.
· Participants who kept gratitude lists were more like to have made progress toward important personal goals.
· A daily gratitude intervention (self guided exercises) with young adults resulted in higher reported levels of the positive states of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, attentiveness, and energy.
· Participants in the daily gratitude condition were more likely to report having helped someone with a personal problem.
· Grateful people are more likely to acknowledge a belief in the interconnectedness of all life and a commitment to and responsibility to others.
· Grateful individuals place less importance on material goods, and are more likely to share their possessions with others.
· Grateful people report higher levels of positive emotions, life satisfaction, vitality, optimism and lower levels of stress and depression.

Every morning try and spend five or ten minutes thinking of all the reasons you have to be grateful. Write them down if you have the time, perhaps you could keep a special Gratitude Journal. The film "The Secret" recommends keeping a "gratitude stone" in your pocket so that every time you touch the stone you think of reasons why you are grateful. This will transform your life. If you would like a free Gratitude Meditation (mp3 recording) please e-mail me at Trev@Intelligentlifestyles.co.uk and I will e-mail you the recording.

Happiness results in success, most people think it is the other way round. They think you become happy when you are successful. Happiness sets into motion a whole series of psychological and behavioural changes that make you more determined to set and achieve meaningful and realistic goals, that help you get over failures (which are inevitable), that help you overcome problems and setbacks, and that help you to develop deeper, positive and supportive relationships.

Every morning also ask yourself "What can I do today that will make me happy?" Here is a list of things that have been shown to boost happiness levels. Smiling; Socialising; Intimacy; Keeping a Journal; Meditation; Contributing (Helping Others, perhaps by volunteering); Developing your Spiritual Life; Listening to Music; Exercising; Engrossing Hobbies; Photography; Pursuing Meaningful Goals; and of course Expressing Gratitude. Some recent research has shown that as little as eight minutes participation in these "positive interventions" can lead to significant impact on your happiness and emotional well-being, and help reduce the national plague of "unhappyitis."

Two Free E-Books

Napoleon Hill wrote "The Imagination is the most marvellous, miraculous, and inconceivably powerful force the world has ever known". He went on to say "It takes no more effort to demand abundance and prosperity than to accept misery". You need to develop a prosperous mind set, and re-evaluate all of the beliefs that limit your wealth. Alexander Pope said "We have seen the enemy and they are us". The creation of wealth is a science, if you do certain things you will get rich! To help you along the way I would like to send you two classic e-books. The first is by Wallace Wattles entitled "The Science of Getting Rich", the second book is "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill. I have heard it said that one's wealth is directly proportional to the number of times you have read "Think and Grow Rich". I hope that these gifts provide the inspiration and momentum to enable you to make an "explosive jump" in your ability to create wealth, prosperity and abundance. Please e-mail me at Trevor@IntelligentLifestyles.co.uk to get your two e-books. Alternatively, you can subscribe to my newsletter, and I will send the books to all my subscribers. You will get the books quicker though if you e-mail me directly, (but please subscribe to my newsletter as well). Don't forget to request your free coaching session and I will phone you back to schedule it.

Chunking - Achieving Huge Goals Bit By Bit

If you have followed my instructions below you should have some really fantastic inspiring goals, but you may feel a little daunted by the sheer immensity of the goals. You need to break the goals down into more manageable chunks or "milestones". A favourite maxim of mine is "Life yard by yard is hard, life inch by inch is a cinch!" Break the big goal down into 6 smaller goals or milestones, that when achieved would mean that your reached your big goal almost by accident, or a as by-product of achieving the smaller goals. It's a good idea to reward yourself for completing each milestone, just to keep the momentum going. Once again a coach (www.lifecoachingonline.com) can help you with this by asking powerful questions like "Imagine you have got your goal, what would have had to have happened in order for you to get it?"

Milestones can be chunked down into "Action Steps" which are accomplished each week to move you closer to the goal. An action step should be challenging, achievable, in line with your values,

appropriate to the goal or milestone, and clear. If you are stuck for ideas try asking yourself what you would have to do in the next week to make you feel back on track.

Brainstorming your Goals

Having used the Wheel of Life exercise (described below) to decide which areas of your life you want to improve you now need to ask yourself "If this area in my life was perfect what would be happening?" Brainstorm absolutely everything and write it down on a piece of paper. A coach (http://www.lifecoachingonline.com/) will ask you powerful questions to facilitate the brainstorming process. Examples of such questions would be:

"If you had no fear what would you do?"

"If you knew you couldn't fail what would you do?"

"What do you really really want?"

"What else would you love to be, do or have?"

Your coach will keep on questioning you until they are sure that you have come up with absolutely everything you need for this area in your life to be perfect.

From the notes you have made you now need to formulate your goals according to the S.M.E.R.T.I.E. model below (25/07). It is important to use empowering phrases such as; "I love doing..", "I am delighted that...", "I am exhilarated..." They should also be written in the present tense, they must have a date and year, and they must not contain any negatives, which the sub-conscious mind cannot process. (The phrase "Don't think of a pink elephant" illustrates this point with alarming accuracy).

An example of a correctly worded goal would be something like "It is 26th September 2007 and I am now in a romance of storybook intensity with the girl of my dreams. She is fantastic and we get on amazingly well, enjoying many adventures and sharing much fun and happiness together. Our intellects are well matched and we take great pleasure in deep discussions which go on into the night. We enjoy working out at the gym as well as running and cycling. We are like catalysts to one another encouraging each other's personal growth and development. When we are together we are totally unaware of the flow of time. The relationship is destined to result in a enduring marriage of more romance, love, fun adventure and mutual personal growth."

You can have great fun writing out these goals, and as a coach it is one of the activities I enjoy most. I will write out three goals for you during my free introductory coaching session. Please contact me at Trevor@IntelligentLifestyles.co.uk to arrange a free coaching session.

The Wheel of Life

This is a simple but extremely powerful tool to use to identify what areas in your life need improving It is holistic, in that it will help you restore balance to your life, and help you set powerful goals to you transform your life and achieve your dreams.

Draw a circle on a piece of paper about 3 inches in diameter. Divide this into 8 equally sized segments by drawing vertical and horizontal lines through the centre and then a further two lines that also cross through the centre of the circle. You should now have what looks like a pizza cut into eight equal slices. Each segment represents an important area in your life. You can choose these areas yourself or use the following which are the areas that most of my clients identify; Emotions, Health, Partner, Vocation, Money, Personal Development, Family/Social, and Spirituality. These are all self explanatory with perhaps the exception of Spirituality which does not necessarily mean a religious faith of some type. It can just simply mean being in touch with your true self.

You now look at each of the areas in turn and rate your self from 1 to 10 on where you believe your life is now compared to where you think it should be. For example, if you are financially independent with £3,000,000 wisely invested, you would probably score yourself 10/10, if on the other hand you have too much month left at the end of the money you would probably score 1/10. Mark on the relevant segment your score, 0 is at the centre of the circle, 10 is the outer edge. When you have done this for each area join the dots to form your "life wheel". If you are anything like the majority of people you will end up with a rather distorted crumpled looking wheel. If you imagine this life wheel on your car, you can see you are going to get a very bumpy ride.

This indicates which areas in your life you need to work on to restore a sense of balance, the goal initially being to try and get the Life Wheel as round as possible. You can then select which areas you want to prioritise for growth.

Identify which areas have your lowest score, these are probably the best areas to work with to set some powerful goals to start transforming your life.

The "Life Wheel" is extremely adaptable and can be used in many ways to progress your life. Your life coach (http://www.lifecoachingonline.com/) will teach you many uses for the wheel, and how it can be used to prioritise your most important goals and get you powerfully motivated to start taking action. It is also possible to make smaller wheels for each one of the above areas. When I am helping clients improve their health and fitness I use a "Health Wheel" where the segments are labeled; Happiness, Exercise, Hydration, Stress, Weight, Nutritional Supplements, Diet, Fun & Recreation.

You should review your life wheel every couple of months. It is a good tool for finding where you are now, where you want to be, and for measuring your progress.

In my next session I will show you how to set powerful goals in the areas that you have identified that need improving.

Setting Goals

The best way to set goals is to ask a Life Coach to assist you (www.lifecoachingonline.com). However, this of such fundamental importance that I am going to take you through the process and give you some tips to help you progress. Whatever goal you give to your sub-conscious mind, it will work day and night to help you achieve it.

There are seven things to remember when setting goals. They should be Specific, Measurable, Evidential, you need to accept Responsibility for achieving them, they should be Timed, Inspirational, and contain an Emotional element to motivate you to action. You can remember all these ingredients with the acronym S.M.E.R.T.I.E.

The two most important criteria are that goals are specific and timed. A goal that is not specific is just a good idea. A goal that does not have a time limit is just a dream. Vague goals produce vague results. "I want to lose weight" is just a wish. "I will be my ideal weight by the summer is better, and would make a good affirmation. But best of all is "I will weigh 56kg by 1st September 2007".

A good goal will also stretch you, it will encourage you to step out of your comfort zone. It will require you to learn new skills, overcome fears, and meet new people. Jim Rohn said "You want to set a goal that is big enough that in the process of achieving it you become someone worth becoming."

The ultimate goal is "Life Mastery." The ability to be totally in control of your life, your health, your emotions, your finances, your relationships, and life purpose. You may be unfortunate to lose material things but you cannot lose life mastery, that is those skills you develop in the process of getting your goals.

Being clear about your vision for the future and the goals you need to set will put you into the top 3% of the world's achievers. To move into the top 1% all you need to do is write them down and then take specific actions steps every day to help you achieve those goals.

In my next entry I will show you the "Wheel of Life" and explain how to use this tool to set goals that will create a balanced and fulfilled life.

The Power of a Goal

"If you don't set goals for yourself, you are doomed to work to achieve the goals of someone else."
Brian Tracey.

One of the first things a life coach (www.lifecoachingonline.com) will do with a client is help them to set some powerful goals in their life. Last year I attended a Brian Tracey lecture. During the lecture he stated "If you write 12 goals down on a piece of paper, then do nothing else except put the piece of paper somewhere safe, then twelve months later you look at that piece of paper you will find you have achieved 6 of those goals without you apparently doing anything."

I shared this with a client of mine who did exactly this. One of the goals was to own a house in Spain. This appeared totally out of reach for my client but she wrote it down anyway. Yesterday she phoned me to remind me of the coaching session and to inform me that she now owned a house in her home town near Seville. We were both amazed. Incidentally, she didn't inherit the house, she is funding the purchase herself.

This process works like magic, but there is some science behind it. The conscious mind can only handle a few pieces of information at a time. The sub-conscious mind is capable of dealing with millions of bits of information every second, and it filters out everything that is not relevant. When you tell your sub-conscious mind what you want, i.e. your goals, then the reticular activating system in the sub-conscious mind no longer filters out the information that would enable you to achieve your goals. Instead it brings the information to the attention of the conscious mind enabling you to react to, and seize opportunities that otherwise you may not have noticed.

Furthermore, you attract into your life the things that you focus on. Most people focus on what they don't want rather than what they do, so they get more of what they don't want. I always ask my clients what they want to be, do, or have. Most of them don't know. However, when I ask them what they don't want they can talk for hours. They are passionate about the things they don't want. It should be the other way round!

I also think there is a bit of magic involved in the goal setting process as well! Ralph Waldo Emerson said "When you write down a goal the whole universe conspires to help you achieve it."

I should point out that you should always take action to reach your goals, including reading your goal list aloud at least three times a day, but the process of setting goals is so powerful, that even if you apparently do nothing you will still have a 50% success rate.

When someone contacts me for coaching the first session is always free. (All the other sessions come with a money back guarantee - if you are not satisfied at the end of the session you get a full refund of your fee, no questions asked). During the first (free) session I will help you set some amazing goals, so what have you got to lose? Contact me now through my website or e-mail me (trev@lifecoachingonline.com) and I will help you set some powerful goals.

Change your Thoughts Change your Life

"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.”
Thomas Jefferson, Third President of the United States.

A life coach (www.lifecoachingonline.com) can help you change the way you think about things. They can identify limiting beliefs, in-congruent values, and rules that no longer serve you. It is important to know what rules you have in your life because we generally have very tough "rules" that make it hard to live a happy life and very easy to get really pissed off. If you change your rules it's much easier to feel happy. For example a lot of people have a rule that they are only successful if they are earning a lot of money. It is hard to be happy with a rule like this. It's much better to change this rule to "I am successful every time I learn something" A life coach will identify all your rules (I bet you didn't know you had any), and then help you change them into rules that will make it much easier to feel good about things and damn difficult to feel bad about things.

Fear - Train the Butterflies to Fly in Formation!

All most all our fears are now self created. We scare ourselves by fantasizing about negative outcomes to anything we are considering doing, thus we let fear stop us from doing the things we should be doing to live abundant and extraordinary lives. Mark Twain wrote "I have lived a long life and had many troubles, most of which never happened."

Fear used to be the body's way of telling us our lives were in danger and giving us a burst of energy to run away from the danger or to stay and fight it. These days there are very few saber toothed tigers wandering around, nor other threats to our lives, but we still have the feeling of fear. It really just means we need to be a little more cautious, that's all. It doesn't mean we should not do anything. To get most of the good things in life you need to take a little risk, everyone feels fear, the important thing is to get on and do it anyway. You can actually train your body to enjoy the feeling of fear - someone described it as "getting the butterflies to fly in formation." Instead of thinking of fear as fear, feel it as exhilaration, or courage or self confidence instead. Remember that fear really is Fantasized Experiences Appearing Real.

A life coach (www.lifecoachingonline.com) will help you identify your fears, confront them and encourage you to work through them. One way you can do this on your own is to identify your fears, for example, "I am afraid to speak in public." Then write down "I want to ... speak in public, .... but I scare myself by fantasizing that I will ......" and list the reasons for your fear, for example, "... forget all my words and make a complete fool of my self." Do this for all your fears. This exercise will soon make you realise that you are the one creating the fear. Then replace the fantasy with the exact opposite so the statement now reads " I want to speak in public, I will remember all my words and deliver a fantastic speech." Then use this as an affirmation.

The things that we fear the most give us the greatest sense of liberation and growth when we press on and do them anyway.

Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

Many people do not enjoy the success that is rightfully theirs because they are unwilling to step out of their comfort zone. They doom themselves to a life of quiet desperation and third rate mediocrity. They are constantly stuck in an endless loop of reinforcing behaviour that holds them captive and generates the same results week in week out.

A good life coach (www.lifecoachingonline.com) will encourage you to step out of your comfort zone, but will keep you from stepping into your stress zone. They will stretch you just enough to make a real difference and inspire you to start living the life of your dreams. They will identify the limiting beliefs and negative thoughts that are holding you back and it will be as if an imaginary brake that has been holding you back had suddenly been released.

There are things you can do yourself to encourage you to get out of your comfort zone. You can use affirmations such as "I set goals and achieve them easily and effortlessly". You can visualize being successful in all that you do, and having, doing, or being what you want. You must flood your sub-conscious mind with images of your new successful self. Einstein said "Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions." Most importantly of all you need to change your behaviour and start taking action. You may make a few mistakes, but these are just learning processes through which you will grow. In fact the more mistakes you make the more successes you will have. George Bernard Shaw said "When I was a young man I observed that nine out of ten things I did were failures. I didn't want to be a failure, so I did ten times more work."

Every week do something that scares you a little!

Do You Want an Extra Two Months Every Year?

This is kind of obvious, I know, but if you cut out just one hour of TV a day, you will create an extra 365 hours each year to accomplish the things that you really want. These 365 hours equate to over 9 additional 40 hour work weeks, that's more than two months of additional time.

What should you do with all this extra time? Anything that is productive! Quality family time, learning a new language, gaining new qualifications, going to the gym, or maybe reading. If you read for just one hour a day you can easily become an expert in your particular career or passion and excel in virtually any area of your life.

Don't forget to make good use of the time you spend commuting too! The average person spends 30 minutes travelling to and from work each way. That's another hour a day! Another two months a year! If you use public transport you can read more, if you are driving listen to motivational audio CDs and learn the secrets of some of the world's most successful people. I purchase my motivational CDs from www.nightingaleconant.co.uk They have a fantastic catalogue covering all areas of self-development.

Limiting Beliefs

Most of us have beliefs that limit our success. These beliefs may include the idea that we are not capable of achieving our goals despite the fact that information is readily available to do virtually anything we wish. Many of us also choose to believe we are not worthy of love or somehow incapable of handling life's challenges. We limit ourselves financially by believing that it takes money to make money or that money is somehow evil. Recognizing these limiting beliefs is one of the major steps that a person can take to become more successful in every area of their life.

These limiting beliefs arise through our perception of life events starting in early childhood when our parents tell us things like "Money doesn't grow on trees" and makes us think we will never be rich, or when someone calls us stupid and we then believe we are stupid. Our sub-conscious mind starts collecting evidence to reinforce these limiting beliefs (because we haven't given our sub-conscious minds different instructions) and so everything gets compounded.

It is possible to overcome any limiting belief. First you have to identify the belief that is holding you back. You can do this on your own, or with friends, or best of all work with a life coach (www.lifecoacingonline.com). Once you have a long list of beliefs that are limiting your success, take each belief individually and ask how that belief limits you. Then decide what you would prefer to believe instead, a belief that will serve you. Make this belief into an affirmation that states positively how you want to feel, then repeat it several times a day for at least 30 days to imprint it into your sub-conscious mind. Your sub-conscious mind will then start looking for evidence to support this new belief and you will indeed believe it.

An example of this process for the belief that "Everything I do goes wrong" would be firstly to look at how this limits you. Write down "This belief limits me because..... I am afraid to try anything new." Write down what you want to feel instead, for example, "I want to feel that it's good to try new things because I will learn, gain experience and become more confident." Next make this into an affirmation. For example "I can do lots of things right, and I get more confident the more I do". Repeat this until it is ingrained in your subconscious mind.

This process can be made even more effective by firstly making a big cross through your old belief or burning the piece of paper it is written on, and if you are working with a coach they will probably ask you to think of examples in your life where your new belief has already proven true.

Where Have I Been?

Since my last posting on 10th February I have been travelling around the world (in an easterly direction). I had hoped to keep this blog updated with my progress, photos, and experiences, but this proved problematical and time consuming. I wanted to make the most of my time seeing the sites and not sat in my hotel room or internet cafe writing this blog. When I arrived back in the UK there was just so much to do!!! But I am more or less on top of things now and can now commit to writing a daily article once again. So look out for my postings once again.

To answer the question at the top of the page, my first visit was Singapore where I regretfully spent only two days. This was a superb place to visit with plenty to do. I treated myself and stayed at Raffles Hotel (the original one). I shall never forget my midnight swims in the roof top pool, nor the food.

I spent a week in Perth then on to Sydney for a further week, having a fantastic time at each destination. The highlight of my stay in Perth was a 3 hour flight along the west coast in a small Cessna light aircraft, up to Monkey Mia where a pod of wild dolphins regularly come up to the beach to interact with humans. In Sydney I did the Sydney Bridge walk to overcome my fear of heights. I also visited the three most famous beaches, Bondi, Manley and Coogee, but I was disappointed with these. The beaches in Fuerteventura, where I have my winter residence are far better, and in fact I did not see any beaches anywhere on my travels to rival Fuerteventura.

My three weeks in New Zealand were absolutely superb! There were highlights each and every day, these included; flying out to a bubbling steaming volcanic island called White Island (http://www.wi.co.nz/research.htm) on the east coast; Canyoning at Queens Town and Auckland; and sailing down Milford Sound.

From New Zealand it was on to Fiji where I stayed at Tony Robbins spa resort "Namale" as well as Nadi on the main island and Savu Savu, on the second largest island. The main purpose of my round the world trip was to attend a Tony Robbins course "Life Mastery" which was held at Namale. On the first day of the course we climbed 56 feet high telegraph poles and then jumped onto trapezes suspended 12 feet from the top of the poles. We also detoxed our bodies by fasting and colonic irrigation and learnt how to "master" our lives. I hope to share a lot of what I learnt on the course on this blog, especially about the colonic irrigation.

From Fiji it was on to the USA and Los Angeles, which was maybe the wrong place to visit after chilling out in Fiji. The highlight of LA was the Getty Museum. My trip to the Grand Canyon was cancelled at the last minute which was a huge disappointment. I did not stay very long in LA and left the USA without stopping off in New York. It was just too busy after Fiji! I intend to return in December.

I hope to put details and photos of my trip onto one of my websites.

Manifestation Through Vision Statements

I've just been sent a link to a really inspiring video on manifestation using the Law of Attraction. It features an Australian Life Coach, Malcolm Cohan, and he describes how he uses "Vision Statements" to get what he desires to live the life of his dreams. It takes about five minutes to watch and it's nearly as good as "The Secret" movie.
Watch it here:-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bis6fUSFxY
You can also see Malcolm's own personal "Vision Statemnt" at:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dgb_lhYvR5M
I hope this inspires you to start thinking about what you desire in your life and perhaps you will make your own vision statement.

The Law of Attraction

"Our minds become magnetized with the dominating thoughts we hold in our minds and these magnets attract to us the forces, the circumstances of life which harmonize with the nature of our dominating thoughts" - Napoleon Hill

Everyone is talking about the law of attraction - it's the basis of the inspirational movie - 'The Secret'. This natural law is as real as the law of gravity.

Its basic principle is this - Whatever you focus on you get. In other words, think positive thoughts and you'll attract positive things into your life. Focus 100% on achieving your dreams, and you will attract people, ideas and opportunities into your life who will make your dream come true.

The problem is controlling your thoughts. When you're feeling positive and upbeat, you'll be making progress in attracting the things you desire into your life. Likewise, when you're feeling down and worrying about the things you DON'T want, these will be the very things you'll attract into your life.

The Law of attraction - Your greatest friend... or your worst nightmare!

It takes time to be aware of your thoughts, and even longer to learn to control your thoughts. However once mastered, this universal law - the law of attraction, can help you achieve anything you desire.

I recommend reading 'Law of Attraction - How to attract money, love and happiness'. This explains in detail how to use this law to your advantage in all areas of your life.

The paperback version currently sells on Amazon.com and has 5 star reviews... You can have the ebook for nothing. Just click on the link below.

You also get a chance of having the 2 part audio version for just $9 (It currently sells for $22.97 at
Amazon)

The Law of Attraction ebook at no cost...
http://www.hypnoticinstantprofits.com/loves/law.html
You will need to register at this site.

Do You Procrastinate?

I really struggle in this area. I am always putting things off until tomorrow, and generally the more important the thing is the more likely I am to delay doing it until my life depends on it being done. Fortunately, I am aware of this tendency of mine and I am taking the following steps to overcome this problem.
Firstly, I tell myself "This is a task that I choose to do, not that I have to do." It is important to alter one's mindset from a "must do" to a "want to" mentality. Get excited about the task in question by thinking of the positive effects of completing the task rather than the negative aspects of failing to do it.
Secondly, I tell myself "I don't have to finish the task now, I just have to begin." It's easy to get overwhelmed by a large or unpleasant task. Focus on just getting started, your momentum will then carry you through to complete the task. If it is a particularly large or complex task break it into smaller pieces. Remember "Life yard by yard is hard, life inch by inch is a cinch!" If the task is an unpleasant one don't dwell on how horible it is. Remind yourself that you have seen worse. Tell yourself it's not that bad and that the sooner you get on with it the sooner you will be rid of it. Schedule rest/exercise periods into the task and celebrate or reward yourself every time you complete a task or sub-task.
Thirdly, I remind myself that "It doesn't have to be done perfectly. It just has to be done the best I can in the time available." See the blog below on perfectionism. Perfectionism ruins productivity. There is no such thing as perfect. It is important to focus your energy on tasks where excellence will make a difference, these are usually the more enjoyable ones. All other tasks just need to get done.

Are You A Perfectionist?

I always used to believe it was good to be a perfectionist, but it is one of the biggest stumbling blocks to personal success. Perfectionism stops you from taking action until everything is perfect, which of course, it rarely is.

There is an old proverb which says "If it's worth doing' it's worth doing well." Don't let this stop you from getting going. If its worth doing, its worth doing badly at first. You will soon improve. The important thing is getting going, and not being afraid of failure.

The best way to increase your success rate is to increase your failure rate.

George Bernard Shaw said "When I was a young man I observed that nine out of ten things I did were failures. I didn't want to be a failure, so I did ten times more work." Just get started!

Another of my favourite quotes is from self-made millionaire Mike Litman.

"You don't have to get it right, you just have to get it going"

Please make a start today on that project that you have been putting off for so long. Once you get a bit of momentum going you will find it hard to stop.

Two Easy to Keep New Year Resolutions

It is very difficult to keep most New Year resolutions, and in fact most are broken within a few days. I don't recommend making them anyway. Goal setting is a far better method of achieving what you want in your life, and is something which is constantly reviewed rather than just looked at once a year. I will spend several days in the near future explaining how to set powerful and life transforming goals. However, here are two New Year Resolutions which will be easy and fun to keep and will improve your life dramatically. I want you to resolve to be more grateful for all the things that you already have in your life. I also want you to resolve to be more happy. Happiness results in success, most people think it is the other way round. They think you become happy when you are successful. Happiness sets into motion a whole series of psychological and behavioural changes that make you more determined to set and achieve meaningful and realistic goals, that help you get over failures (which are inevitable), that help you overcome problems and setbacks, and that help you to develop deeper, positive and supportive relationships.

Researchers at the University of California and University of Miami have discovered significant benefits of maintaining an attitude of gratitude.


· Those who kept gratitude journals on a weekly basis exercised more regularly, reported fewer physical symptoms, felt better about their lives as a whole and were more optimistic about the upcoming week.
· Participants who kept gratitude lists were more like to have made progress toward important personal goals.
· A daily gratitude intervention (self guided exercises) with young adults resulted in higher reported levels of the positive states of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, attentiveness, and energy.
· Participants in the daily gratitude condition were more likely to report having helped someone with a personal problem.
· Grateful people are more likely to acknowledge a belief in the interconnectedness of all life and a commitment to and responsibility to others.
· Grateful individuals place less importance on material goods, and are more likely to share their possessions with others.
· Grateful people report higher levels of positive emotions, life satisfaction, vitality, optimism and lower levels of stress and depression.

Every morning try and spend five or ten minutes thinking of all the reasons you have to be grateful. Write them down if you have the time, perhaps you could keep a special Gratitude Journal. The film "The Secret" recommends keeping a "gratitude stone" in your pocket so that every time you touch the stone you think of reasons why you are grateful. This will transform your life.

There is a gratitude meditation at http://manifestlifenews.com/t/7037168/. This is a free mp3 download.

Every morning also ask yourself "What can I do today that will make me happy?" Here is a list of things that have been shown to boost happiness levels. Smiling; Socialising; Intimacy; Keeping a Journal; Meditation; Contributing (Helping Others, perhaps by volunteering); Developing your Spiritual Life; Listening to Music; Exercising; Engrossing Hobbies; Photography; Pursuing Meaningful Goals; and of course Expressing Gratitude. Some recent research has shown that as little as eight minutes participation in these "positive interventions" can lead to significant impact on your happiness and emotional well-being, and help reduce the national plague of "unhappyitis."

The Power of Questions

Tony Robbins, one of the world's leading life coaches states "The quality of one's life is decided by the questions one asks oneself. Ask easy questions and you lead a hard life. Ask hard questions and you will lead an easy life. An easy question would be "What will I watch on the TV tonight?" A hard question would be "What can I do today that would move me closer to completing my goals?" I have a list of 50 power questions on my web site, www.lifecoachingonline.com that will challenge you to take action to move towards your dream life.

Here are five questions you should ask yourself at the start of each day to get you motivated.

1) What am I most excited about today?
2) What action am I taking today to get me closer to my goals?
3) What exercise will I take today to give me more energy?
4) What am I going to learn today to help me grow?
5) How can I go the extra mile for someone today?

“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of.” Benjamin Franklin.