Napoleon Hill, Author of Think & Grow Rich

Is there a formula for success that anyone can follow to be successful in their life and work, and achieve their goals and dreams?

That’s the question Napoleon Hill famously decided to answer.  In the early 1900’s, acting on the suggestion of Andrew Carnegie, Hill interviewed 500 wealthy and successful people, many of them millionaires, to see if he could determine what, if anything, they had in common.

You might recognize the names of some of the people he interviewed. Many were the most famous people of his time, including Thomas Edison, George Eastman, Alexander Graham Bell, Elmer Gates, Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller, Charles M. Schwab, William Wrigley Jr., F. W. Woolworth, William Jennings Bryan, Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft, [Read more…]

Jillian Michaels - one of my weight loss coaches

My number one New Year’s Resolution for 2010 is to lose weight and live a more healthier lifestyle. My specific goal is to lose 30 pounds in order to be in my “ideal” weight range by August of 2010, when I turn 40 years old.

The good news is that I know how to lose weight and live healthier. Then again, we all do, don’t we?  Putting it into practice is another matter.

In my case, I’ve already been a big fat loser, having lost 70 pounds about 14 years ago. I did it the old fashioned way: I exercised more and ate less.

Since then, exercising regularly and making healthy food, snack and beverage choices on a regular basis has been a challenge for me at times. The biggest reason: I haven’t always stayed motivated to do it or been willing to pay the price.  And I ended up gaining back about 20 pounds.

This year I’m going to lose 30 pounds by following these ten steps for success in achieving New Year’s Resolutions:

1. Turn the resolution into a goal by specifically identifying what I want and when I want to accomplish it: I want to lose 30 pounds by August 31, 2010.
2. Be specific in setting the goal – write it down: I just did!
3. Be realistic in expectations and deadlines: I think this goal is realistic.  To lose 30 pounds in eight months means I need to lose about 4 pounds a month (or 1 pound per week).  Years ago, when I lost 70 pounds, I averaged a weight loss of 2 pounds per week.
4. Identify resources or tools that can help: I’ve been a member at my local YMCA for years, so I have a lot of resources there at my disposal, including exercise equipment and personal trainers.  In addition, my wife and I have started using Jillian Michaels – 30 Day Shred video as part of our workout routine at home (Jillian is one of the trainers on The Biggest Loser).  Lastly, we’ve been using Tosca Reno’s Eat Clean Cookbook: Delicious Recipes That Will Burn Fat and Re-Shape Your Body! at home for meals.
5. Identify obstacles that could keep me from achieving my goal and potential solutions: Three big obstacles immediately come to mind:  1.  I love to drink Coke.  2.  I eat out a lot at lunch time.  3.  I travel frequently, which means I eat out for 3 meals a day when I’m away from home, and I don’t often exercise.  My potential solutions are to drink more water and less Coke, bring a lunch from home more often, and make better food choices when I do eat out.
   
6. Enlist the support of a mentor or accountability partner who will encourage you to toward the achievement of your goal: As I just mentioned above, my wife and I working out together and we’re enjoying healthy meals at home as a family.
7. Set aside a specific time each week to work on your goal: We get up at 6:00 am Monday – Friday to workout together.
8. Virtualize your success – imagine what your life would be like, in vivid detail, when these goals are achieved:   I have created a vivid picture in my mind of what I would look like after I’ve lost the 30 pounds and how good I will feel when I achieve this goal.
9. Keep track of your time invested and progress made – you must inspect what you expect. I’m going to weigh myself each week and keep track of my eating and exercise using an iPhone app called Lose It!
   
10. Plan to reward yourself when the goal is accomplished: That’s easy – I’m going to go out and have a big meal to celebrate!  Just kidding…Actually, my reward will be to go out and buy a new wardrobe!  It’s a reward of necessity.

Now you know my New Year’s Resolution and what I’m going to do to make it a reality.  Please go down to the comment box below and tell me what your New Year’s Resolution is, and what you plan to do to accomplish it.

And while you’re at it, subscribe to my blog so we can stay in touch and encourage each other toward greater success in 2010.

You might also like:
Nine of the Most Popular New Year’s Resolutions
How to Achieve Your New Year’s Resolutions
Nine Reasons Why You’ll Never Achieve Your Dreams

Recently at Life Compass Blog, we’ve been talking about how to improve your success in achieving New Years Resolutions.  Here are ten tips that can help:

1. Turn your resolutions into goals by specifically identifying what you want to accomplish and when you want to accomplish it.
2. Be specific in setting your goals.  Write them down.
3. Be realistic in your expectations and deadlines.
4. Identify resources or tools that can help.  For most goals, “there’s an app for that.”
5. Identify obstacles that could keep you from achieving your goal, and potential solutions.
6. Enlist the support of a mentor or accountability partner who will encourage you toward the achievement of your goals.
7. Set aside a specific time each day or week to work on your goals.
8. Virtualize your success – imagine what your life would be like, in vivid detail, when these goals are achieved.  Begin to act now like you’ve already achieved them.
9. Keep track of your time invested and progress made.  You must inspect what you expect.
10. Plan to reward yourself when each goal is accomplished.  It doesn’t have to be expensive or a big deal, but plan to reward yourself when you accomplish your goal.

A little thought and planning right now will help to propel you forward toward the successful achievement of your New Year’s Resolutions.   Why not get started in changing your life today?

I can’t believe this is the first week of November, can you?  Where has the year gone?

Remember those New Year’s Resolutions you made back in January, or those things you said you were going to do differently this year?  How’s it going so far?

We all know that New Year’s Resolutions are easy to set, but they’re often difficult to fulfill without a plan.  If you haven’t achieved your New Year’s Resolutions or goals for 2009 yet, I believe there’s still time!

You might not be able to complete them all in the two months that remain of 2009, but you can definitely make some solid progress on the ones you decide today are the most important to achieve.

Two months ago, on September 1, I shared 5 Steps to Achieve Your Goals by Year’s End.  Give it a read, and decide today to finish strong in 2009!

At Life Compass, I enjoy sharing resources I’ve discovered that can help you achieve your goals and create more work-life balance.

Joe’s Goals is a free and simple online tool you can use for tracking your goals.  Here’s a description from the Joe’s Goals website:

Joe’s Goals is a simple yet powerful tool to make tracking your goals the easiest part of accomplishing them. Use the simple single page interface to setup daily goals and track them with just a click. Watch your daily score to gage your success and use negative goals (or vices) to confront and overcome bad habits that finally need to get the boot. Share your success with your friends and family or post your personal score badge to your blog or MySpace page. Add as many Goals as you want and update them all from a single interface.

Check out Joe’s Goals and see if it might be right for you.  You’ll find it at www.joesgoals.com.