Spring Clean your Life!

We are coming to the end of January...whew!..what a month. It seems like a long time ago when you made those resolutions right? Well lets see what happened.
You put down some great ideas - change jobs, lose weight, stop smoking, get healthy...and so on.
How did you do?
Probably started out pretty well no doubt, and then into the second or third week well... the weather wasn't great, work was tough, it was raining so you couldn't walk or the stress got to you so you had a cigarette. It happens.

Spring is just around the corner. Yep, Spring starts on the 1st February! So here are some things you might do to make the most of this new energy.

REVIEW - have a look back over January - write down some details on a piece of paper with a line down the middle of it.
On the left side of the page title WHAT WORKED, and on the right title WHAT DIDN'T WORK. Take the time to really think about the good things you did this month, what you DID achieve, even if it was simply sticking to your diet for a week that is something that worked and that is important!
THINK - Think about what you DID achieve, even if you simply kept to your diet for a week jot it down and mention what kind of things you did. Next think about some of the stuff that didn't work to keep you on track.
Maybe you caved in on the smoking when you were out with a bunch of friends that do smoke or maybe you felt stressed so ate more...don't dwell too much on it, just observe as we aren't here to get caught up in bad feelings about all this! The idea here is to get a pattern of what situations helped you stick to your goals and what situations might be stopping you and throwing you off track.
When you've done that then you're ready to move into February with a clearer vision of how to reach your goals as you have the advantage of knowing what works! If you aim to do less of the stuff that doesn't work for you then you are moving closer to your goals!

New Years Resolutions

So you made a list of goals and targets for 2008, and you are not even finished the first week of January and you've abandoned the whole lot!...or at least some of them! Sound familiar? Your best intentions about getting fit, quitting the cigarettes and changing jobs are well placed but how do you turn these intentions into your success story of the year?

Often we pile on a ton of things we'll give up, never eat, never drink, must do, will never do again and so on, as resolutions. We put ourselves under pressure and give ourselves unrealistic goals and times in which to achieve them. Most of the time we aren't even clear about what it is we want to put down as a resolution or goal!

The clearer you are about what it is you want to achieve the better. Sure...getting fit is a great idea, but what exactly do you mean by 'getting fit'? If you can jot down a list of ideas about what it means to you, for e.g. getting back into a pair of jeans you love, having more energy, feeling happier about yourself, then you make it more specific.

If it helps how about trying the following -
Be specific about just one of your goals
Commit to giving it a shot for the month of January only

Small steps are better than no steps!