Its January  2011...wasn’t it just January 1992??  Weren’t we just planning for Y2K?

The years are going by in the blink of an eye…

 How does that make you feel?

• Are you happy with the direction of your life? Is the new year a happy time for you?

• Or – is the new year overwhelming-- are you discouraged with another year that’s gone by?  Discouraged about goals you didn’t meet, discouraged by the dreams you didn’t chase, discouraged by opportunities you let pass--relationships that sat stagnant

 Whatever the case may be...

Think of January as a clean slate

January is like a white board in a school and the janitor came in over winter break and wiped it clean…

January

Is a time to Review the past year.

January

is a time to Renew yourself and to renew your future

January is a time for a fresh start

 What would it look like to Review your past year?

Did you keep your list of resolutions from last year?

REVIEW the list—Pat yourself on the back for the things you got to--

Acknowledge those things you didn’t …and decide if they need to stay on the list for this year.

• Review your ups, your downs, your success, your failures
• How did you celebrate the successes?
• What did you learn from your failures?
• What did you start this year? What did you achieve? What did you overcome?

What developed in the course of the year that you never expected?

I always say..."you don’t know, what you now" - 

When I made my 2010 resolutions, I didn't even know what Toastmasters was...and now my biggest goal is to complete my "Competent Communicator" manual and becoming a public speaker!

What I’m saying is... have your new year resolutions written down but keep an open mind because you don’t know what opportunities are going to come into your life.

Spend some time to review the past year - Because...The years are going by in the blink of a eye!

January...what better time to renew faith in yourself and to renew your goals-    

Spend time renewing your future-

• Write down all the things you would like to accomplish in your life…anything that comes to mind.
• list all the things you would like to learn or get better at.
• List all the places you want to visit, the The people you want to spend more time with, the organizations you want to volunteer at.
• list the things you want to do more of
• The things you want to do less of or let go of all together-

Hopefully you already have your 2011 resolutions written down, and hopefully you’ve already made copies and you have one next to your computer and you’ve given the other to a friend so they can hold you accountable,

But I want this new list to be bigger!!

Sometimes these goals are going to feel overwhelming and daunting and sometimes its going to be easy to talk yourself into thinking you don’t really have to do it… believe me, I know! ! I also know this…

            Making a positive change in your life is almost always going to be painful…initially

Believe that you can work through the pain

Believe that with hard work and perseverance you make things happen

Believe in yourself

 And while we are on the topic of believing, let me remind you what the great Gandhi said…

“Our beliefs become our thoughts, Our thoughts become our words, our words become our actions, our actions become our habits, our habits become our values, our values become our destiny”

Its January 2011

2010 went by in a blink of an eye!

• Review your past
• Renew your future

Rejoice in the experiences of your past -- because they are the foundation of your future!

Rejoice in who you were created to be!

Rejoice in the blessings of another year!

Happy New Year....It's a beautiful thing!!