How wonderful it feels to leave on vacation: empty email, clear desk, laundry folded and bills reconciled. Or at year-end when we start the year with a clean slate:  fresh files, a new budget at zero balance….ahhhhhh.  The way a cool drink overflowing with ice and condensation replenishes, satisfies and refreshes.  Or the feeling of new goals that have been set, but not yet shattered.  The holi-daze are behind you, nothing extra on your life plate Bogarting your attention. This is THE year I will!  It feels good. It feels great.

This time of year is all about you.  Your goals, your wants, your dreams, your vision and your needs for the new year. So what happens mid February (for some mid-morning on January 2nd), when we lose focus on things that were so important to us?  We know we will feel happy and satisfied with the accomplishment, yet we let it die.

First, discover your purpose for setting the goal. If you don’t know the reason (your values), you are missing your main source of motivation.

Second, achieving success takes small steps every day. Actions are the only thing that can bring you results. It is a process, not a destination.  It's like laundry.

Third, the desire for instant gratification is stronger than any sense of reason. Many goals involve some kind of deprivation of pleasure.  Keep the focus on the long term goal, instead of the instant reward. Remember how fun it was to wait for Christmas and open all those presents that have been sitting under the tree for weeks

Fourth, our subconscious mind reverts to familiar ways of doing things. It is trained by the constant repetition of the beliefs, values and lifestyle that you have learned from an early age. For instance, if you transferred to Australia, you would try for the first few weeks to make a real conscious effort to drive on the correct side of the road, but anytime you hurried out the door or started thinking about your shopping list while driving, you would catch yourself time and time again driving on the wrong side of the road. But the longer you lived and drove there, the more your subconscious mind will change over to the new behavior.

Finally, people forget their goals. Review your goals every morning when you wake up and again before you sleep. Changing your behavior will take time. Don’t lose the battle simply because you forgot.

Be ready this year for these five sabotaging demons. Use your inner Energizer Bunny (keep going and going), awaken your inner Dory (just keep swimming, just keep swimming) and rely on your mental Little Engine that Could.  Keep your inner kid alive and in refresh this year. Keep growing, improving, learning and dreaming.