There are a few key issues to take note of:

1.  How have you packed for your journey?

Look yourself in the mirror and ask the question; “Am I carrying too much baggage?”  All too often we get excited about the prospect of achieving goals that have been in our heart and mind but we start the journey with a bag full of past doubts, failures and frustrations.

Spend time to look closely at yourself and make sure there are no self-destruction bombs lurking in your psyche.  Forgive all past misdeeds and embrace others with a clear heart and mind before you start writing the ‘to do’ list. 

For often it is the past, not the present that prevents us achieving our goals.  If you don’t feel worthy of success then no matter how many goals that are set, success won't come your way.    Carrying the guilt of previous relationship failures is not a recipe for a new healthy partnership. 

2.  What are your real goals?

Don’t fall for the trap of writing a wish list that really doesn’t resonate with your core beliefs.  If you can't attach real passion and emotion to the vision of a successful outcome, the chances are the first time an obstacle appears you will waver in your commitment to the goal.

It is a great idea to create a ‘wish list’ as a creative exercise (I have a long list of all the things I want to do before I die) as a starting point.  Use that list to identify what you really want and believe you can achieve.  Include little goals to get into the habit of succeeding and make sure you reward yourself with every victory.

I like to write a vision of how my future will be and then let the pathways appear.  Life will throw roadblocks up but if you maintain the vision and believe in it then you will find a way to achieve it.

3.  Will you be a player or a spectator?

Are you going to get your hands dirty or are you writing goals, tasks and to-do’s that will never be tackled?

To achieve what you want, get out of the stands onto the playing field.  No matter how much you prepare, no goals will be scored from the outer.  Sometimes you will get a little bloodied and bruised but a least you are part of the action which may well bring about the dreams and desires you harbor.

Remember, if you want things you have never had, you will have to do things you have never done.

This year make your major goal to be a better YOU!

I don’t mean the alarm going off in the morning but a dramatic event that shatters your life creating moments of soul searching and the reassessing of priorities.

Recently my son was involved in a car accident where his vehicle was totally wrecked but thankfully he escaped with minor injuries.  A routine drive was transformed, in the blink of an eye, into a life threatening event.

Days later reflecting on the accident he made the comment, “This was a wake-up call.  I need to get my act together and start setting some meaningful goals.  Quit smoking, cut down on the drinking and start a savings plan.”

At the age of 31 and being single he really was coasting through life.  Every attempt and focusing on the future was sidetracked by the need to party, collect ‘toys’ and live life with little thought to consequences.

Whilst he expressed his goal to change his habits and lifestyle, his language and thinking didn’t change.   The phone call to join his mates in a night of drinking wasn’t met with any new found caution but the habitual response. “I’ll be there and let’s get smashed.”

Smoking would stop when he got past the party season as it made no sense to quit now!

He had his wake-up call but the sound of the alarm faded as he habitual lifestyle took hold.

How many times have you decided on a course of action but fell at the first hurdle because it was easier to stay in the comfort zone of your current mode of living?

Sometimes for us to be able to move forward we need to take a sledge hammer to the barriers that surround us.  It may mean leaving ‘friends’ behind if they can’s support you on your journey.  A lifetime of bad habits have to be examined to be replaced my more positive ones.  What we need to do is take a stock take.  Where I am now and what do I need to do to achieve the outcomes needed to change my life.

Above all we need to be honest with ourselves.  Negatives need to be objectively identified and laid bare to enable realistic goals to be set and pursued.  Without an honest assessment of who you are and what are your values and motives, any effort to change no matter to what degree is just smoke that will drift away with time.

Make sure your ‘wake-up’ call isn’t wasted!

If you want things you have never had, you will have to do things you have never done.

The volunteer project had us in a rural area south of Jaipur.  Apart from the vehicles and mobile phones, I don't think the area has changed in hundreds of years.  Very poor and lacking services (the power is only on at night).

Our role was to beautify classrooms at the local schools.  These buildings had not be touch since construction.

There is little english spoken but the universal language was enough - a smile.

Like everywhere the kids were full of life and laughter.  It's a pity the adult were so reluctant to work.

The trip included a trip to the Taj Mahal and a Tiger safari (saw one up close!).  So from the beauty of the Taj and the majesty of the Tiger, we were immersed in third world conditions around the camp.

The biggest lesson for me was to be eternally grateful for all that I have and never take anything for granted.

I will talk more about it on my radio show over the coming weeks.

Cheers 

It is only two weeks, no big deal.  Hopefully I can contribute to the locals needs in some way but most importantly I will see first hand what is needed and therefore become a messenger for them. 

I will keep an audio record of my time to post make sure I capture the true flavour of what is happening.

More later. 

The day will come when my body will lie upon a white sheet neatly tucked under four corners of a mattress located in a hospital busily occupied with the living and dying.  At a certain moment, a doctor will determine that my brain has ceased to function and that, for all intents and purposes, my life has stopped.

When that happens, do not attempt to instil artificial life into my body by the use of a machine.  Don’t call this my deathbed.  Let it be called the Bed of Life and let my body be taken from it to help others lead fuller lives.

Give my sight to the man who has never seen a sunrise, a baby’s face or love in the eyes of a woman.  Give my heart to a person whose own heart has caused nothing but endless days of pain.  Give my blood to the teenager, who was pulled from the wreckage of his car, so that he might live to see his grandchildren play.

Give my kidneys to one who depends on a machine to exist week to week.  Take my bones, every muscle, every fibre and nerve in my body and find a way to make a crippled child walk.

Explore every corner of my brain.  Take my cells, if necessary, and let them grow so that someday a speechless boy will shout at the crack of a bat and a deaf girl will hear the sound of rain on her window.

Burn what is left of me and scatter the ashes to the winds to help the flowers grow.

If you must bury something, let it be my faults, my weaknesses and all prejudices against my fellow man.

Give my sins to the Devil.

Give my soul to God.

If, by chance, you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or word to someone who needs you.

If you do all I ask, I will live forever.           Robert Test

I have never been a big resolution or goal setter.  Mainly because I am not a list person and in both cases this is what often happens. I will......... or  I wont............ By such and such a date etc

my belief is we must be Dreamers.  Not day dreamers with no direction but Dreamers with a sense of excitement and passion for our dreams. 

When you paint your dream, whether it is written in a journal or on your dream wall, it is amazing how the path starts to appear.  It may not be a direct path but that's life.  Go with the flow and enjoy the journey with out putting pressure on yourself by ticking off items on a list.

Remember to make big Dreams!