LifeManual - Transform Your Life

It's that time again. A time when most people are thinking of changes they plan to make in the upcoming year: good riddance to a bad habit or negative behavior, a new work strategy or career choice, a healthy change in diet and healthier spending … or even a major move to a new house or location.

While New Year’s resolutions are a terrific tradition for goal setting, they're also traditionally broken. Instead of just thinking about resolutions or making a list that's quickly forgotten, sit down with yourself for a goal-setting strategy session. Create resolutions that lead to real outcomes. Your results can lead to life-changing impact using LifeManual techniques:

Deploy your Values. Your resolutions will be meaningful to you if they're aligned with your values. Determine what motivates and inspires you; identify activities you tend to avoid. You'll quickly see how your values integrate with motivators. So you'll want to deploy your values in developing resolutions and call on them when it's more difficult to make your plans stick.
Use the Function of Focus. Be realistic … Dream big, too. Then focus on ways your resolutions can build a bridge from those small changes into those transformative life events. Have you ever noticed? The happiest, most successful people actively narrow down the choices they face, so that they have the time and energy to expend on their priorities and passions.
Visualize the Results. Visualization is brain candy -- yet it's nutrition for conceptualizing the outcome of your resolution. In fact, studies show that the brain doesn't distinguish between real images and imaginary ones. That means that by simply visualizing your goal, you really do make it 'real.' Visualization will help you overcome challenges and eliminate the frequency of setbacks. Why? It fires your ability to instinctually make choices that mesh with the visual of success.
Seek Inspiration. You can't just wait for inspiration; you have to make it happen. So make sure your resolutions include a support plan with strategies for gaining inspiration and harnessing its power. For some people, inspiration comes from intellectual agents like philosophical quotations or Socratic discussion. Others need emotional fuel: symphonic music or the fellowship of friends and family. And many find physical challenges inspiring--walking, running, hiking, or even taking the vacuum cleaner apart and putting it together again.
Give Regard to Reflection. Never underestimate the value of reflection. Daily reflection on the small steps and the larger goals helps you take corrective steps if needed. It's a way to be vigilant, to maintain values-focused thinking that keep your goals a priority. Reflection is also a means of identifying success -- and rewarding yourself when it happens.

Now, let's explore how to put these steps to work and the values-based thinking that goes along with it.

Mary's list is typical. It's the quick list that's typically forgotten. Here's a cross-section of her new list, transferred from a sticky note to a notebook. And that action alone gives the resolutions more value, meaning and priority. It also enables the exploration and relevance of values and exercises the important tool of focus.

Paying off credit cards -- provides the funds needed to pay off my student loan. Gee, I'll need a real budget.
Reducing personal debt -- okay, it enables me to save the down payment for my dream house. And less debt means less debt-to-income ratio. So I get more house -- or the house I really want -- and a more secure investment.
Sell the condo? Hmm. I need to explore this goal, to see where it fits in with my other financial plans. I should learn more about the process, though…I'll narrow my focus on the other things and see what happens.
Income taxes - boring, but if I just do it I'll save that penalty fee and get a better picture of my financial reality … besides, I'll need my tax return for the mortgage process. Yep, this is a priority!
Being responsible for fiscal management … this really seems like an overall goal. It's a reflection of my core values - it means freedom and choices because debt is reducing my choices. And if I'm more responsible, I actually do have a choice of spending now or buying a house … making a wise investment in my future. I can be assertive and proactive, instead of procrastinating and reactive. Fiscal responsibility -- maybe it's empowering and not a burden at all. Wow!

Note the shift that results from focus and values alignment. As Mary explores her values and visualizes her goals -- and her dream house -- she clearly sees the stagnant rut that's resulted from habits and behaviors. Her focus identifies the steps that will quickly generate outcomes; they reinforce her dream and her new behaviors. Instead of fiscal dread and forgetfulness, her new outlook is motivating. Her values-driven resolutions are meaningful; she can expect a consequential impact. And with her dream house clearly imagined, Mary's already moving closer to success.

Turn the page in Mary's goal-setting notebook. She has a tax preparation timeline. She's developed a budget. It shows a system for eliminating all personal debt within the year. And she can still save $50 a week -- by curbing impulse spending. Sounds great!

But a few weeks later, Mary's overwhelmed. The challenge of daily sacrifices is too much. She needs some inspiration, and in reflection, she realizes she's missed another important step. With further reflection and a values check, Mary discovers several inspirational rewards that befit her fiscal goals strategies.

Would a thrift-store shopping spree inspire you? Consider the impact of a $10 weekly reward while the adjusted $40 weekly commitment earns dividends toward the down payment. Better yet, Mary's reward has another payoff and a new incentive. She spends it on materials to improve her condo. Once again, her values-driven focus brings another epiphany. Minor improvements should lead to a higher return at sale, and the work is highly inspiring. Moreover, her efforts extend to another goal -- exploring real estate and preparing her condo for sale.

Mary -- and you -- might also be surprised by the inspiration and results discovered in similar activities that could be defined as actionable behaviors. Weekly walks through her ideal neighborhood would give Mary new ideas for improvements and sustain her 'dream home' visualization. She'd save further by reducing fuel costs … deploy action toward those other resolutions concerning health and fitness. And there's always a benefit in meaningful reflection….

Since the time is ripe for resolutions, make time for reflection, for values, focus, visualization and inspiration. Like Mary, you'll discover that values-aligned change you make happen for a year, is change that makes a lifetime happen!

LifeManual makes the perfect notebook for New Year Resolutions or as the blueprint you envision for an ideal life. LifeManual is an organization tool, a values-guide for life planning and goal setting … it's a navigator complete with invaluable tips, tools, techniques … motivation included! It's never too late to read the manual and to create an extraordinary one of your own. Order Now