Before you begin a thing, remind yourself that difficulties and delays quite impossible to foresee are ahead. You can only see one thing clearly and that is your goal. Form a mental vision of that and cling to it through thick and thin. (Kathleen Norris)

If we are ever in doubt about what to do, it is a good rule to ask ourselves what we shall wish on the morrow that we had done. (John Lubbock)

The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don't define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them. (Denis Waitley)

We can be our own worst enemy at times. How often can you see that it was you who actually got in your own way on the path to fulfilling a goal?

It was usually only a thought that got in the way! Something that you made up...so, you could make up something else. A replacement thought that empowers you.

Write down as many of the discouraging thoughts that you can recall, from those times you actually stopped yourself. Alongside each of these, record a replacement thought that really gives you some power.

What could you put in place so that you remember to replace your negative thoughts with an empowering thought? An automatic pop up on your computer screen? A colourful card sitting up on your desk or pasted to the front of your diary?

Most days we say some horrid things to ourselves and we aren't even conscious that the tape is playing!

Consider also, the people with whom you surround yourself. Are there people with whom you could spend more time? Are there people with whom you could spend less time?

Lastly, when exploring your 2004 New Year resolutions - here are a few pointers to send you on your way:

Are your intented outcomes crystal clear to you and do you have them somewhere on display for yourself - in words or images? Do you have powerful reasons for wanting to accomplishing your chosen goals?

Make a practice of writing down your 6 top priority goals, daily. It is worth those extra 5 minutes each day - recreating your desire for reaching that next stepping stone.

Are your New Year resolutions feasible? Are the deadlines too tight? Could your goals be broken down into bite sized chunks (i.e. milestones along the way). You may easily become discouraged if your goals seems impossible to achieve. This can chip away at your confidence in going after what you want. A strong belief in your goals is mandatory.

Have you put something in place to really celebrate each milestone victory, great or small? This will expand your personal confidence. Reward the source of your results.

For further personal exploration: A site with practical tools for creative dreamers is http://www.howmuchjoy.com An extremely resourceful site to visit is http://www.ehappylife.com/custom/about.html

If the links (above) are not 'live', then simply cut and paste them into your browser.

Thea Westra

I'm a life coach and have enjoyed being a part of that profession since 2002. Before that I was an artist and managed a gallery space plus founded a non-profit organisation for artists. We organised and curated 30+ exibitions (large and medium) for a period of two years. I became involved in that directly after I had moved from Melbourne to Perth, in Australia. Up until then, I was a teacher for 23 years. While working full-time as a teacher I also completed four degrees at uni. and trained other teachers. Today, I live with my partner Greg who is a piano teacher. I'm not as prolific with article writing as I'd like to be, athough one of my favorite things to do each month is creating my monthly personal development e-zine. You can subscribe for that at my website. You are more than welcome to send me an email to ask me more about myself or ask me to expand on any idea introduced in an article. My email and further contact details can be found at my Forward Steps website.