Don’t make resolutions, set (written) goals

This is the period when most people begin thinking about New Year's resolutions. But rather than approaching your 2010 aspirations as traditionally ineffective (and probably short-term) resolutions, how about setting a firm goal of what you want to achieve, and then implementing a strategy for reaching it?

Goals can be set on a number of different levels:

• First you create your "big picture" of what you want to achieve (your "vision").

• Second, you break your vision down into the smaller targets that you must hit in order to reach the main priority.

• Third, you create a strategy for achieving your individual goals.

• And finally, remember than any goal is useless, unless you are fully committed to work towards implementing it.

Spend some of the downtime between Christmas and the New Year thinking back on what you accomplished in 2009, and in which directions you plan to do better in 2010. And then turn your reflections into a written plan (with dated commitments!).

If you find that you feel a bit hesitant about this ("Why should I? Life is short!"), then try to remember when you last made a list. We're all constantly making lists, and the reason is simple: Lists work. They prevent us from forgetting something, and they maintain our focus on the task at hand. However, very few people (fewer than five percent!) ever take the trouble to make a list encompassing the biggest aspects of their lives: their goals. And because people fail to do this, they lose focus amid hectic daily schedules and a range of small, distracting, niggling problems.

Research proves that the simple step of writing down your goals alone dramatically increases your chance of achieving them - it makes you focus much more powerfully.

Goal setting techniques are used by top-level athletes, successful business-people and achievers in all fields - why not take benefit of this proven strategy for success and use it for yourself?

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