Make a Strong Start

As the year winds down, I find myself reflecting on the past 11+ months - the accomplishments, the lessons learned, and all the treasured moments. It’s amazing how quickly the year has flown by. It seems like only yesterday we were celebrating the beginning of 2007.

It’s been a busy year at Smooth Sailing. We launched the Smooth Sailing Success website, started the Business Skills Workshops, began the Audio Success Library, and most importantly helped many, many clients reach their goals. Personally, I’ve taken up golf (I’ll be sharing more about that in future newsletters!), continued perfecting my Spanish, and was the recipient of the Thelma Gibson Award of Excellence.

It’s been an exciting, productive and wonderful year. That said, did I reach all my goals? No, I didn’t. Did I have setbacks and challenges along the way? Of course, I did. But rather than focus on what I didn’t get done, I’m looking forward to the new year with gratitude for what I did accomplish and renewed enthusiasm for the future.

I’m especially looking forward to helping you reach your most important goals. Last week during Power Lunch, my monthly teleconference where I share tips and ideas for success, we talked about ways to jumpstart the new year and set yourself up for the success you want. You can listen to Power Lunch on the Audio page of the Smooth Sailing Success website.

Why not make 2008 the year you take yourself and your business to the next level? Here are my top three tips to make a strong start for the new year:

1. Acknowledge your successes.
Have you taken time to reflect on your accomplishments for the past twelve months? We often get so busy going for the goal, focusing on the future or just plodding through the demands of the day that we lose sight of the things we are achieving. It is important to give yourself credit for all the great things that you do. What has been your biggest win for the year? What is the thing you are most proud of? Have you celebrated your success?

2. Re-evaluate your unmet goals.
Reassess your goals and figure out which ones are still relevant. In looking at your goals, are there some that need to be discarded, that are no longer of interest or no longer meaningful? Are there some that need to be reframed or broken down into smaller action steps?

3. Decide what you want.
A major reason that people don’t have what they want is because they haven’t clearly decided what they want; they haven’t defined their desires in a clear and compelling way. According to Jack Canfield, author of The Success Principles, “most people really foul up at this crucial first step because they simply can't see how it's possible to get what they want so they don't even let themselves want it.” It’s your life. You get to decide what you want.