It’s the start of the year and no doubt you have broken most of your New Years resolutions already. Don’t beat yourself up, as that is what tends to happen all over the world with these types of goals. So if these goals don’t work then what does?

Well first off what are your goals? Do you really know what it is you want? Are you passionate about them? I ask this as most people start off with great intentions, like New Year resolutions for instance! A great goal is one that wont let you sleep at night as your so excited about achieving it.

So what is it that gets your juices going, a new house, a new sports car, a dream holiday, an extra $500 a month or $10,000 a month. Whatever it is you should feel passionate about it, if you don’t then it will probably just join the New Year’s resolutions pile.

There are loads of great goal setting books and courses that you can study but for me I like to keep things simple. I used to do things complicated like the books say. I would brainstorm like crazy and pick out the top 3 then do complicated charts and graphs that mapped out how I would get there. It felt great, almost like I had already achieved it.

And then…..

When I started to work towards achieving my goals the damned paperwork that I had lovingly set up to chart my ‘success’ took most of my time to complete! Needless to say this ended up on the pile too..

So what do I do now? I have one major long term goal, my dream home. It gets me so excited I know every part of it inside out. I have a picture of it next to my desk and my bed to remind me through the day and before I go to bed about my goal. By the end of 2007 I will move into my dream home and enjoy exploring everywhere that I have visited so often through this year in my mind.

To support this I have also worked backwards through the year from the point of inserting my keys into the lock to now. I know all the steps I need to take to get to that goal and I have them all written down. I spend 15 minutes each morning reviewing my weekly and monthly goals and ensuring everything I have planned is taking me closer to my dream home. If it doesn’t it gets scrubbed or goes to the bottom of the pile.

I also have at least 2 people who hold me accountable to my goals. One is my partner and one is one of the leaders in my business. You need to have this as it keeps you focussed and on target.