HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Yes, it's 2008 already. Another year has flown by! What are my wishes for 2008? Well, my wishes, desires and goals on a daily, weekly, monthly basis are very consistent; good health, peace, balance, happiness and to live mindfully and with passion. What do you want? Sure, we all have goals and people still make resolutions every year at this time, but forget about what you "should do"...... what do you want to do? We spend much time and negative energy and worry on composing lists of what we think we should do or what others expect of us or trying to keep up with the status quo. How about spending time focusing on and pursuing what we want to do, what nurtures us, what truly brings us joy? When you pursue something with passion, you usually succeed. When you pursue something you don't truly want, typically it's a half-hearted, passionless effort, which results in, (surprise!) failure. Once again, remember what Paulo Coehlo says in "The Alchemist",

"When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it."

Try not to think of resolutions, but rather, goals. Daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly goals. Set measurable, specific goals for yourself and check in on your progress. When you say "I resolve to eat better", how do you measure whether you're achieving that? You can't. How about saying instead "My goal is to eat 5 servings of vegetables per day" or "My goal is to have only one cup of coffee per day". You can measure your progress and your results, which in turn, will keep you on the road toward success.

As I stated earlier, my consistent wish, desire, goal is to have good health, peace, passion, balance, mindfulness and happiness. These are actually generalizations. To reach these goals, I need to break them down in to more specific measurable goals. When goal setting, you must also consider the obstacles you will encounter and how you will overcome them. Think strategy! Another must for success is support. How will you find support in helping you achieve these things? What kind of support works for you? An online support group? A likeminded friend or family member to check in with? A book or weekly podcast? Your church? A local community group that meets every Wednesday evening? A professional coach? Find the support you need to help you realize your dreams.

And remember, BELIEF is crucial. You must believe you can have what you want!

Create goals for all the various areas of your life:

• Finance
• Career
• Relationships
• Health & Fitness
• Fun & Recreation
• Personal Growth
• Contribution / Legacy

And finally, some quotes to help you maintain your motivation;

"A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline."

"Many fine things can be done in a day, if you don't always make that day tomorrow."

"If you want to have what you have not, you must do what you do not."

And from Stephen Covey:

"The best way to predict your future is to create it."

Many blessings and best wishes for a peaceful and passionate 2008! Do something that brings you joy every day. Create your future and love it!

With love,

Kathleen

What is Success?

Success can be defined in many ways .... just ask a few people what success means to them and you will get as many different answers. One of the definitions of success that resonates with me is this:

SUCCESS: the progressive realization of a worthy ideal

The most successful people usually didn't get where they are by happenstance. It took time and effort. It requires the act of setting goals and coming up with strategies on how to achieve those goals and overcome the obstacles. It is important to have goals, so that we are always reminded of what we want to achieve and we can measure our progress, by having a timeline and a deadline. And goal setting should encompass all areas of your life. At the Jack Canfield lecture I attended in July (which airs on PBS) he encouraged us to have goals for our finances, our career, our relationships, our health and fitness, our fun and recreation and for our own personal goals, such as learning to play a musical instrument or a foreign language. The final goal, he talked about, was our legacy; our contribution to the world. How did we want to be remembered? How did we want to contribute to the greater good?

Take some time to think about what success means to you and start writing down your goals for all the different areas of your life and commit to living the life you really want. You can have your heart's desire. Anyone who is familiar with Paulo Coelho's famous book, "The Alchemist" knows that when you really want something, the Universe conspires to help you achieve it.

For more motivation, please watch this brief movie called "The Strangest Secret" by clicking here.