Did you start the year full of enthusiasm, motivation and determination to make changes and achieve new goals – only to find you are struggling to maintain that change and feel like giving up?

Still want to succeed? Then spend a little time looking at your progress and make a note of:
1) What went well?
2) What has disappointed you?
3) How do you feel about your progress?
4) What needs to happen next?
5) Who could help you?

Was your goal realistically achievable from the beginning? If not then what needs to change for you to achieve success? Perhaps there are other, smaller goals that need to be completed before you can go on to obtain ultimate success. If something hasn’t worked, change your approach and keep trying until you start to see progress towards your desired result. Don’t be put off if things don’t quite go to plan. My own weight loss journey has been full of ups and downs but my determination to be healthy and fit so that I can see my family grow up is still the objective that drives me forward.

In my experience, any significant change that you want to make long term will require changing your mindset and habits to succeed. To change a habit, something has to be repeated between 40 and 70 times before our brain starts to realise that we want to make a permanent change rather than just trying something new.

Don’t beat yourself up if things have not quite gone to plan. Draw a line under what you are not happy about, then look at what you have done and what you have learnt and take that forward. Incorporating fun and happiness into your goal will increase your probability of success tenfold. Have a great week and focus on that finishing line – and who knows what you will achieve along the way.

It was back to school for me this week following the Christmas break.  Getting straight into the challenge of coaching teenagers, I was quickly faced with the issues of their world and the impact they have on their day to day life. So many young people today say that they have no choice or control over what they do!

“Parents, teachers and adults take control and make all the decisions” is a regular complaint that I hear. Explaining in a positive way that throughout life we are answerable to someone whether that is a parent, boss or organisation and that boundaries and guidelines have to be followed, can be a challenge to say the least.
If I discuss rules and boundaries and identify why they are important, this often changes a young person’s perspective. Another important step is helping them to understand their spheres of influence – that they cannot change another person’s behaviour but they can control what they do in response (and how), and that this creates choice for them.

When young people feel that they have choices and control, they are happier, more contented and able to cope with the general ups and downs of life. Without any choice, control or involvement then young people look to other things to try to obtain what they feel is missing from their lives. Eating disorders, self-harm and bullying are all things that young people can turn to because they believe it will give them the control they are missing. Often, these issues are a cry for help – asking for someone to listen to them and for to have the opportunity to communicate how they are feeling.

Communication, keeping an open mind and not being judgmental is vital if we are to understand and steer young people through the teenage minefield into happy, confident and understanding adults. Recognising and acknowledging change or progress builds confidence, an openness to try different things and encourages personal development.  Above all, helping our teenagers to make choices and respecting their need for control creates an environment where they can grow and succeed.

I have had an excellent week thinking about my objectives for the coming year, planning my strategy of how I am going to achieve my desired results and I am now focused and ready to go.
I have looked at what went well last year and what disappointed me which tells me what I need to do more of, what I need to avoid and also what new and different things that I need to consider.
On trying something new, I was fortunate enough to have an equine assisted learning and coaching session last week with Claire Misson from Mirror Me. Working with a team of horses we worked through a number of activities to develop communication skills, self awareness, personal effectiveness, relationship management and negotiation skills. The horses provided me with so much information about myself and my skill set and where my strengths are and what areas I need to improve on. The session provides opportunities to develop confidence, self-esteem and increase success for individuals or groups in business and leadership.
The outcome from the session was very interesting for me and has given me much food for thought about my skill set. I thoroughly enjoyed doing something completely different. I am not really a New Year resolution sort of person but my focus for this year is to do and experience different things and see what results I get rather than doing the same old stuff. Who knows what will happen but what I have learnt about myself is that if I am interested in something and it is meaningful to me then I change my routine and make it happen so that it becomes a habit.  Do you think you could do something different this week and have a new experience that could make a  lifestyle impact?

I hope you have had a fantastic festive holiday and a very happy New Year.  I find the new year is always exciting for me as it is a time for reflection with regards to the year that has gone plus the anticipation of what the new year has in store. Taking that into account, I find it very useful to look at the following things:

• What worked well?
• What didn’t go well?
• Taking both the above things into account, what have  I learnt?
• What do I want to achieve in the coming year?
• How do I plan to get there?
• What is my focus?
• How am I going to maintain it?

Looking at these questions enables me to continue and maximise my successful actions, avoid repeating what did not work and then focus/plan the goals I want to achieve over the coming year.

This can be applied to whatever you want to do whether that is losing weight, setting up a new venture, starting a new hobby or even moving home.

January is an excellent month for sitting down and planning your year.  Money is usually tight after overspending at Christmas so if you are stuck indoors, why not make effective use of the time and motivate yourself into the new year. When you start to achieve your goals, how good is that feeling going to be?

So come on —- don’t let 2015 pass you by.  Make those plans, take action and see what amazing results you can achieve!