Tuesday, January 15, 2008

The Secret to Making and Keeping Your New Year's Resolutions

By Susan Bonfiglio

Another year, another set of resolutions. Each year we set New Year's resolutions and by March most of us have abandoned them. Some of us abandon them by January 2nd. What sets those individuals who make and keep their resolutions apart from the rest of us? Attitude and belief. Those folks think differently.

I had always approached making resolutions the same way I used to diet, something you go on to go off. I have completely changed my way of setting resolutions because I have changed the way I think.

The dictionary defines resolutions as:

  • The state or quality of being resolute; firm determination.
  • A resolving to do something.
  • A course of action determined or decided on.

A resolution is something you want to accomplish. It starts with a decision, what do you want? Have you ever really asked yourself that question? Not what does your parents or your spouse or your friends want for you. Not even what you think you can achieve but what do you really want? Once you can actually answer this question then you're ready to set a course of action.

Many people saw the movie The Secret and think that all you have to do is visualize it and it will come. Not true. That is only one step in the process right after making a decision. You have to get emotionally involved in your goal. You have to feel the excitement; you have to feel yourself achieving the goal. Experience the joy. As you do that, you begin to invoke the Law of Attraction which states that what you think about, you bring about. You will begin to attract all that you need to achieve your goal.

A mistake that people make when setting goals is that they use negative words to describe what they want. For example, I've heard people say, "I'm in debt. My goal is to not lose my house." Words have energy and power. Negative words produce a negative vibration and ultimately a negative result. Instead use positive words, "I am so happy and grateful now that I have all the money I need to maintain myself in my home and live comfortably." See the difference. The positive words set up a positive vibration in your body and it will begin to attract the people and things you need to achieve your goal.

That's why affirmations alone don't work. If you write an affirmation and don't believe it, you will not be able to make it happen. For example, if you write an affirmation about body image like, I have a thin body, and you don't believe it because you weigh 300 lbs. you will not achieve it. Then you either blame yourself or the affirmation. It's like making soup. You have all the right ingredients in the pot to make the perfect soup but if you don't light the fire, it won't cook. The fire is the feeling that fuels your actions and produces the results you get.

To change your results, start by changing your words. When the words change, your feelings change and your vibration changes and then your results change. When your thoughts change so will your feelings and that will produce a vibration that will alter your results.

Where people get into trouble is they try to do this all alone. Everyone can benefit from an objective person to partner with. Having a coach can make all the difference in the world. A coach can make this process faster by helping you get really clear about what you want and by helping to uncover the unconscious motivations that can sabotage results. Using a coach can shorten the learning curve and provide support and encouragement through the process. Just think where Tiger Woods would be today without a coach.

So make your New Year's Resolutions and set an intention to keep them.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Susan Bonfiglio is an Independent Life Success Consultant, trained by Bob Proctor, from The Secret. She works with people who really want to learn how to improve the results they achieve in all areas of their life. You can learn more about Susan at http://www.susanbonfiglio.lifesuccessconsultants.com

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