7 Simple Strategies for a Happy New Year

1. Know what you  want and why. Be crystal clear on what you want to achieve as well as what you want to gain from it. Be sure what you are seeking will actually provide what you are after.
2.  Make it your own goal not what you think you should do and certainly not what someone else thinks you should do. 
3. Connect to the feeling you will have when you attain it. This provides motivation. We may think we want things but what really turns us on and gets us moving is how things make us feel.
4. Write your goals. Pick no more than 3 and be very specific about what it is and when you will achieve it.. For example; lose 10 pounds is a good written goal but it becomes actionable and attainable when you add a time frame.
5. Each written goal needs at least 3 action steps that you are able to take and specify when you will start taking them. For instance; exercise more becomes join gym in January, take 6pm spin class Mondays, yoga class on Thursday at 4 pm free weights on the weekend.
6. Be realistic and patient. You are human and we all stumble. Do not expect to be perfect and never use a slip up as an excuse to give up. No matter how many times you slip and fall you do not fail until you chose not to get up and keep going.
7. Have trust and faith in yourself. So many times we set a goal with an underlying belief we will never attain it. We may even say it out loud as we frame everything with the cop- out phrase I will try.  We recall the handful of times we missed the mark in our lives far more easily than all the times we knocked it out of the park and this serves to undermine our goals moving forward. Build on all you have already achieved and believe in your ability to do what you set out to do. This is the biggest reason we do not have the success and happiness we seek, we do not believe we can achieve it so do not give ourselves fully to the things that matter most. If this sounds familiar changing this thinking is a great place to start.