Live YOUR Dreams Today

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By the time I finish writing this post it will  be January 4th, 2009.

How have you done for the first four days of the New Year with your resolutions?

Are any of these Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions on your list?

• Make more time for family and friends
• Quit smoking
• Start exercising
• Go back to school / take a class
• Get out of debt
• Advance in your career, make more money
• Get into philanthropy and community involvement
• Quit drinking
• Lose weight
• Get out of a bad relationship

There are several things that I noticed about all of the resolutions listed above:

• each resolution is a HUGE goal that requires some life changing habits
• each resolution sounds like a “SHOULD” rather than a “DESIRE”
• each resolution is a “going away from” activity
• each resolution isn’t joy filled
• each resolution will lead to guilt feelings if it isn’t achieved in 2009

Now, this is one heck of a way to set yourself up for failure.

So how can you make a New Year’s Resolution fun and exciting?  What can you do to create a way for you to want to stay committed to what you resolved for 2009?

It’s not impossible.  And, I’m not crazy.  There is a wonderful way to do this- so you’ll wake up each morning ready to rock and roll towards your dreams - your dream life.

First of all what did I  mean by that these resolutions were huge goals that require life changing habits, that they are “shoulds” and not desires, they are “going away from” activities, they aren’t joy filled, and finally they will fill you with guilt if you aren’t successful in keeping your commitments?

Let’s take “get out of debt” as an example.  First, what do you mean exactly by this statement?  Get out of credit card debt or all debt (which could mean your mortgage, car loans, school loans, etc.).  When you think about this, it could be a rather humongous chunk of change!  So that would be a HUGE goal.  It also would require life changing habits - like NOT use your credit cards, not spending any money on the nice things in life - i.e. enjoying a daily grande espresso truffle from Starbucks - and instead put every extra cent you have towards paying off your debt and not incurring any more.

This brings us to the it’s a “should” rather than a “desire” - probably because of the current economic situation, the possibility you may not have a job, and you’ve read that smart people don’t get themselves is such “a mess” and just for security sake, you should get rid of your debt.

Next this is a “going away activity” because you are looking at it from the perspective of how to have less and then none of what you don’t want.  It’s a “going away from activity” because you aren’t looking at ways to have more of what you do want - which could be how to earn more money and find more resources!

This resolution isn’t really joy filled - it reeks of sacrafice, victimhood, and limitation.  And, if you “slip” and buy that espresso truffle one hectic day, you’ll berate yourself for not keeping your resolution and the guilt feelings cascade through out your entire body.

So, the deck is stacked against you.  And, if you look at each one of the top 10 resolutions listed in this light, you’ll note each one is a trap.  That’s why most resolutions aren’t kept for more than 90 days.

It’s not your fault though.  Even the strongest willed among us would have difficulty time keeping these resolutions the way they are worded and how a person would go about trying to accomplish them.

Over the next few posts, I will give you some tips on how to make your resolutions - “go-solutions”!  You’ll learn how to have fun “playing” towards your targets.  And because you’ll have fun and achieve daily successes, you’ll be energized to keep your commitment to your dream alive through out the year.

So for now, write out each of your resolutions in a special journal or notebook - even if you have them written somewhere else.  If they are written as a “don’t want” or a “going away from” goal, think about what you want instead and rewrite your resolution as a “do want” or a “going towards” activity.  This is your first step in making your 2009 the best year ever!

Next post, I’ll go over some more tips … until then, have a most fabulous Sunday!