So the New Year is now here.

You might well be down hearted if you took notice of all the news in the last couple of days about the fact that unless we had established our New Year resolutions way before 1 January, then we are bound to fail in achieving them - in fact statistically we become one of the 80%. The 80% of people who fail to keep to their resolutions by the end of January.

Is it any wonder that most of us no longer bother with New Year resolutions?!

If you have caught any Christmas TV over the last couple of weeks, you might have noticed an advert for Boots the Chemist who are encouraging people to change just one thing.

Time and again we become overwhelmed if we have too many things to tackle - just think how depressing a long to-do list is that carries on week after week with no real traction - in fact very often the list gets longer not shorter.

In a recent article I wrote about the importance of focus to becoming world class. The same approach is equally relevant when setting and keeping New Year Resolutions.

Here are three actions you can take to support you on staying on track with your NEw Year Resolutions:

1. ALIGN AGAINST ONE GOAL - yes just one thing that you want to accomplish this year. You can make the decision based on something that you would like to further enhance in your life, something that if you achieved it would make a positive difference to your perspective on life. And make sure that this is something that you WANT - we rarely respond in a positive way if we choose to work on something we think we need to do or take action upon
2. BREAK DOWN YOUR GOAL - rather than looking at the goal as one almighty daunting task, break it down into smaller milestones - ideally ones that you can track over 30 days. You can then map out your progress you make in shorter increments and consider rewarding yourself in some way when you reach these milestones
3. CREATE A COMMUNITY FOR SUPPORT - research continues to show that we are more likely to be successful if we share our goals with others. So consider who you could you work with as an accountability partner to help keep you on track? Could you create your own mastermind group; or perhaps you could work with a coach or mentor to help keep you on track; or do you have a group of friends that you can connect with regularly for support, encouragement and accountability?

If you have decided to establish New Year Resolutions I hope these tips help.

And if you are wondering about my New Year Resolutions - well I never set any. You see some time ago I realised that the key reasons that I failed to follow through with New Year Resolutions was that I was putting off change to the begining of the year. If during the course of the year that there is something I want to achieve, I build it into my plan there and then, not putting it off for a later date. I do however apply the ABC’s as detailed above and they have certainly helped me to accomplish some huge goals over the years.

If you have ideas that have worked for you in helping you achieve your goals and New Year Resolutions, perhaps you can share them here with our Biz Growth Community.

And whether you believe in setting New Year Resolutions or not, I hope that 2008 will be happy, healthy and successful for you!

Did you find this article helpful? Then please share it!

I was just tagged by Priscilla Palmer who has kindly listed me on her Personal Development list of blogs for Biz Growth News and Todaey’s Women in Business. It’s quite some list - many of the authors I know and follow and many more that I will be spending time to get read their blogs when back from vacation and with an Internet connection.

I also added a couple of my favourite blogs by Andrea Learned, Debbie LaChusa and Melanie Benson Strick.

Who would you add to the list of business bloggers who blog about personal development? Why not go over to the original list and let Priscilla know. In the meantime, you can read the list as it stands today here: Continue reading

Did you find this article helpful? Then please share it!

Establishing your own business may be your life time ambition.

But had you foreseen the challenges ahead, I am guessing there may be days when you wished you had not set up your own business.

In today’s world, as consumers we are all searching for the fast answer:

• audio books are abridged versions of the full book to its faster to get to the end of the story
• microwave take home meals now come in gourmet packaging so you can entertain with less effort but still save face
• and our clothes are made of fabrics that are crease free so we can get rid of the iron - in other words being smart about looking smart.

I sometimes wonder if what many new business owners are looking for is the quick answer to attracting more clients, building a successful business and long vacations. Continue reading

Did you find this article helpful? Then please share it!

I always used to find the time of New Year a depressing time - be that looking back on plans that did not come to fruition or it being an anti climax to the great festivities of Christmas.

I am sure that my demeanour and attitude to New Year was influenced my the fact that as a family we didn’t celebrate New Year as it was on the 3 January that my father passed away leaving a young widow and two little ones - me and my sister.  So New Year brought sadness to our home as I was growing up.

But something changed some years ago that made me consider New Year in a different way - so if you are someone who is not happy about New Year I’d encourage you to read on. Continue reading

Did you find this article helpful? Then please share it!

This week I met with one of my Biz Growth Academy clients and along side specific strategies for 2007, we discussed we also reviewed how performance has been for him in his practice over the last couple of months that we have been working together.

Next year his target is to exceed over €1 million turnover which is will be some feat for a service professional leading a company of just himself and one other team member.

Over the recent months he has put in place a more robust financial tracking process, has begun to raise his profile in the industry, has renamed the company and has a plan in place to develop his online brand along side some exciting plans for building his platform in 2007.

One of the notable things that has changed for him in the last few months is the fact that he has decided to “up his game” - and that in particular means his expectations of himself, his people and his performance. Continue reading

Did you find this article helpful? Then please share it!