New Year, New Start, New Adventures!

Happy New Year!

Not only is this the beginning of a new year, but the beginning of a new decade and a new generation is being born - "Generation Alpha". That's a lot of new beginnings and it all kicked off with a blue moon just to make it interesting!

So with hope in our hearts and the sparkly optimism that usually comes with a fresh start, the question is what are you hoping to achieve in 2010? More importantly, what will you do to ensure that you stick to it, when the year wears on and your enthusiasm wanes?

Here are some tips to help you stick to the goals you've set for yourself this year:

- Write them down! The power of the written word is phenomenal and so simple to do. Either commit yourself to writing them down regularly; either every day or once a week, or print them out nicely once and put them somewhere you'll read them regularly. I like to laminate mine and put them in the shower, when I'm relaxed and happy so I can be reminded constantly of where I'm headed and stay on track.

- Write them in past tense, as if you've already achieved them, ie; "it's Christmas 2010 and I'm celebrating with my family the success of the X business I've launched this year that has turned over X profit".

- Be specific. Don't write vague goals like "I made lots of money this year", get detailed. "I made X dollars profit over all for X business" is much more powerful and real for your mind to get a grip on.

- Put some feeling into it. Describe how you feel at achieving this goal, put some descriptors into it to set the whole scene, ie: "It's Christmas 2010 and my wife and I are feeling on top of the world having just cracked a bottle of 96 Bollinger to celebrate the X profit I've made on X business. I'm so proud of my achievement and love this feeling of providing for my family".

- At the end of the year, make a bit of a ceremony out of acknowledging what you have achieved before setting out your goals for the next year. There's no point having a goal list if you don't feel the reward of achievement!

- Make your goals achievable. Have some big, lofty ones on there too, but make sure you include some smaller goals because having a win will keep you moving forward toward the bigger goals too. Nothing more disheartening than feeling a million miles from anything on your goal list - it's always nice to see some lines through the goals you've achieved and will be a huge motivator for you.

So happy goal setting and here's to a bright, successful, adventurous, exciting and fun filled 2010.

TV or Not TV? - That is the Question

With all the modern technologies we have today, life has never been busier. In the 21st Century, we take on so much more, and are expected to achieve so much more with our day. Women especially are kept increasingly busy with a wide variety of tasks that can range from looking after the kids, climbing the corporate ladder, running a home based business, keeping fit and healthy, and the other million things we women know that we do.

So the question then is; how are you spending your quality time? If you really want to learn and grow, and live the life of your dreams, you need to devote some time and energy to focusing on what it is that you want, and cherishing your time with you. Sometimes that sounds impossible, but if it's important enough to you, you need to make the time for it. Here is one tip to regaining some lost time

Turn off the television! Nothing will sap your precious time more than this horrible box. In fact, here are some scary statistics for you:

- The average home now has more television sets than people, at 2.73 TV sets in the typical home and only 2.55 people
- The average person watches four hours, 35 minutes of television each day.
- In the average home, a television set is turned on for more than a third of the day — eight hours, 14 minutes (if you consider 8 hours sleep, and 8 hours work, this statistic is even more disturbing!)

This doesn't even count the hours spent on the computer, or surfing the internet!

So instead of turning the TV on, like so many people do on auto pilot, set some time aside for you. Write in your journal, call the friend you've been meaning to but haven't had the time, listen to your favourite album, look through some photo albums, give yourself a candlelit bath, create a vision board, meditate on your goals. Whatever it is, take some quality time for you... you deserve it!

Us & Them - Why You Should Always Dare to Dream

I remember as a child looking at the big houses and shiny, new cars in the street thinking “Wow! Those people are so lucky!”. As I grew up, I observed how much it seemed so normal to separate “us” – the middle class, from “them” – the wealthy. It never really occurred to me as a teenager to question this, but as an adult chasing my big, grandiose dreams, I have found myself eternally perplexed by the self separation that seems to happen amongst humans.

Why do so many people seem to ‘wish’ for the abundance of wealth that life offers, yet never truly believe that it’s in any way possible for them? My question is… Why not? The only way that wealth is ever going to happen is to first believe it is possible. The crazy thing is, it is SO MUCH MORE POSSIBLE than most people ever really know!!

I came from a middle class family, and we often (I mean really often!) struggled with money, but we always kept the dream alive. My father always had an entrepreneurial spirit and started many new business ventures, even though, unfortunately, the financial jackpot always eluded us. We had a better kind of wealth though – love and encouragement. You see, our parents always encouraged my sister and I with strong words like “You can be anything you want to be, if you want it bad enough”.

So now, at 31, I own a multi-million dollar property portfolio, I quit my job several years ago for a life of freedom, I’ve married the man of my dreams, I live abroad and I frequently travel the world. So what’s the difference between me and the other middle class people who didn’t realize their dreams? Only a belief that it was possible.

For instance, I would walk into a store and try on the most expensive pair of shoes I could find, even though I knew I didn’t have the money to buy them. I wanted to be comfortable with that kind of wealth, and I was also very aware of keeping my language, internal and external, positive and aligned with my dreams. Instead of looking at the shoes and immediately saying “I can’t afford those!”, I would say “I choose not to buy them, today”. Being wealthy starts with feeling wealthy. Consider all the people who didn’t feel wealthy and won the lottery… most of them squandered it all away, because even though they really wanted it, they never really felt worthy of having it.

So take the time to reflect on what you’re thinking, feeling and saying (both to yourself and out loud), and decide if it’s aligned with your goals and dreams. If not, consider finding a new approach… and be sure remove the phrase “I can’t afford it” from your vocabulary!

As for me, I’ve still got a long way to go, and I never want to stop growing and striving for more, (does that journey ever stop?), but these days I can see a $40 Million dollar mansion, or 180 ft Super yacht and comfortably say “that’s for me”, and know for sure that it is.