What Is Your Challenge?

Did you make any New Year’s resolutions way back in January this year?

Did you achieve any of them?

Don’t worry - for most people their New Year’s resolutions have been thrown out, forgotten, shrugged off. There is always next year is a common rationale.

Why do most New Year’s Resolutions fail?

What were your New Year’s resolutions for 2011?

Go on a diet? Lose weight? Cut down on credit card spending? Pay your bills more promptly? Cut down on shopping sprees, particularly clothes and shoes? Try to be a better partner, a better parent, a better friend and a better employer or employee. Exercise - that sure is a common one! Meditate.

But that was back in January. Time is rapidly passing by, as always, - welcome to 365 days of procrastination. You have achieved nothing, or at least very little towards those ambitious goals you set yourself back in January.

Then it is time to change your strategy. Yes, life does entail you using strategies, planning, action and implementation.

But, build it one step at a time.

Think of any successful business company. They will have a business plan, an annual budget; they will be continually making sure that they have the resources they need - financial, time and human resources - to ensure their business continues to thrive. They regularly assess their position on a number of key criteria regularly. They implement their plans; they act decisively when it is necessary.

This is their challenge in order to succeed as a business.

So, what is your challenge in life?

Replace your tired old worn out resolutions that you have been making year after year. All those words you used have lost their essence, their meaning long ago. You must re-think, plan a strategy to meet your challenge. Make it worth your while.

In summary form, are these pursuits challenging for you?

Healthy lifestyle:

1. ensure that you eat healthy nutritious food

2. that your meals consist of healthy portions of food

3. develop, and maintain, a balance across work, family and recreation, making sure that each area of your life has some time of its own

4. for exercise - choose a form of exercise, and a time to participate, that suits you, and your lifestyle

5. ensure that you reserve adequate time for yourself - time to discover, nurture and listen to your inner self

Financial Health

1. budget - a well planned monthly budget

2. list your major expenses for the year - car, house repairs, travel - to ensure that you will have the resources available for these when needed

3. make a critical analysis of your spending habits - what you need and what you want are usually quite different

4. as much as possible, reduce your debts - mortgage, credit cards

5. look to the future - no matter what age group you are now - in make, and implement, plans for a nest egg /for retirement/for emergency funds

Take all this one challenge at a time. What is most important to you? Diet, weight loss, fitness? Start with one of these.

Challenge yourself to adopt a healthier eating habit. If fast food and take-out food is your current eating style, there are still plenty of healthier choices in this area. BUT — is cooking such a bother that the convenience of take-out or frozen meals has become so tempting. There are many benefits to cooking. You can choose, experiment and be creative. It’s actually a rewarding endeavor.

You love food; you think that more food is good for you. OK - think about this seriously - is that really true?

Get the idea?

Try this for 21 days. Focus on this one challenge and tackle it with dedication and enthusiasm. Just do it! If you succeed, your 21 days will act as your spring board to the next challenge.

Tackling one challenge at a time, and succeeding at it, you can build it up to eventually meeting all those New Year’s Resolution you’ve dropped by the wayside over past years.