As the end of the year passes us by we all should be implementing our action plan for the next 12 months.

Many thoughts and questions may come to mind.

Do you know what your true purpose in life is?

Do you need to  achieve excellence in everything you do or is good enough good enough?

Learn what health is and how to be more healthy.

How to live a healthier lifestyle.

Keeping your foot in the door as a way to manage hard times.

How to benefit from your hobbies or passion.

How can you become more efficient?

How can you save time on one task to gain more time, and money?

How can you make more money?

What do I need to do to get that nice new car?

What do you need to do to look better or lose more weight?

How can you improve your relationships and make your spouse love you more?

Managing your life one step at a time.

Do you really want or need to be more like the Joneses?

We all are guilty of judging our own success by comparing ourselves to others.

Friends, there is not a single person out there better than you if you are not hurting people, or involved in criminal activity and doing the best that you can at what you do.

The most important goals we can set are those that help us better ourselves, so that we can give more satisfaction to the ones we love, friends,  and colleagues.

It is easy to lose site of what success is and why we want it.

The following thoughts may help you in your self evaluation and in setting your goals for the upcoming year.

The following is intended to stimulate your thinking, motivate you and cause you to step back and ponder where you are in your life and what path are you going to follow at this fork in the road:

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Winning The Race

Slowing down if you want to win the race of life

As the end of the year approaches, we all are reflecting on the past year and perhaps many of the years gone by.

Many of us have started brainstorming our goals for the upcoming year and how to continue making improvements on the previous years  success.

Most of our goals typically seem to revolve around having more of something that involves the money word, or looking better, feeling better, and other similar versions of the aforementioned.

But, how many of you write down why you want the above…or the what the end product is you are trying to achieve…not many I suspect.

I am sure many of you, including this author, have spent many  hours striving to make more money, because we think it makes us feel better…not because we are about to go hungry

or that we can not buy clothes for our kids.

We hop out of bed and get on our way to taking action every day and there never seems to be enough time to accomplish all of our task…the weeks pass, then months, and then here we are

a few weeks before this year ends and a new year begins.

A friend or acquaintence may ask what your plans and goals are for the upcoming year…but do you ever remember your spouse, lover, family and children asking you how much money you want to make next year, or if you plan to add 10 more clients to your workload, so that you can buy that new house on the lake, boat or hot sports car?

If you are very success oriented you probably are keeping some type of journal to record your successes and failures as well as things you need to work on.

If you do, then I am sure you also keep a record of how many of your childrens programs, ballgames, and bedtime stories you missed.

Your children and others that look up to you will model your behavior. They will also remember the things you tell them and recommended that they do, even though you never thought they were listening.

You will ultimately realize that all you were trying to teach them was not in vain when you get a call or text from them telling you to get off the computer and go to bed, or to just take things one step at a time when things are not going well for you in some aspect of your life.

Yes, you were not ignored and you did fulfill your role as a parent or mentor.

You will also realize the impact you have had when they tell you they can not be there for some event or the holidays, because they have to work or they have made plans to go to the islands or wherever the deepest powder is located at that time of year.

Afterall, they are just demonstrating the discipline and motivation you instilled in them to try and make something of themselves and always strive to be the best that they can be…

However…where you failed was in not teaching them why they should strive to be a success…afterall, you are the success expert right?

Chances are you have forgotten what success really means to you…

As you stop and reflect…you start to realize, despite all the money and material things you have…something is really missing.

Happiness…are you happy? The easiest way to make yourself happier is to make someone else happy.

I can confidently say that the person lying in a hospital bed with an acute or chronic or possible lethal diagnosis does not care how big your house is or what new car you are driving. They may be overwhelmed with family at their bedside or may appear to be totally abandoned.

If you want to see magic working just tell someone hello or even better yet, just sit down for a bit and listen with empathy…I guarantee you they will be smiling inside when you leave.

Me time…when is the last time you just spent some time alone doing what you wanted to do, that did not involve working? Take time for yourself to engage in whatever you have a passion for…you will find you are happier and with happiness comes better health, better relationships, less stress and clearer focus on your priorities.

Give a piece of your time…has your favorite words become “not now” or “i will do it later” when your children ask you to play or read a book.

Did you forget to pencil them into your daily planner. You may thinking to yourself, I am busy and we will have more time to spend together when I have completed this job or when I get a boost in my salary. However, you are teaching your children the power of working hard to make something of themselves  when they grow up…what more could they ask for.

They want and need your time…even if it is only five minutes of your busy day. Try it and see how much more content they seem after you have read to them, walked around the yard with them, or played catch. Children do not need the latest craze in toys or expensive trips to the other side of the world… they need your attention, for you to listen, and to notice that they are a part of your world.

We all want love…everyone wants to be loved by someone…someone to share experiences with, laugh with, fall back on when times are hard, for passion, and to let you know you are significant. We all spend, so much time and energy trying to find that individual and when we do it is not long before the new has worn off and we are looking for the next best model or something different. We often forget about the things that brought us together with the other person in the first place.

Most of us try to get to know someone before allowing ourselves to get too personal or commit to deeper acts involved in relationships. If you are busy taking action to achieve your ambitions in life and never mentally available to the ones you love, then you are essentially a stranger in your own home. Think about the repercussions for a minute and the meaning of this should be obvious…

When you are making out your resolutions for the upcoming year…try doing it a little different than in the past…try reverse engineering your goals and making the reasons for success

your top priority on your daily to do list.

Make time each day for yourself, to listen, to play, to influence a child, to do something you find passionate, spend time with the one you love, communicate with your family…These things should be on your top priority “A” list…

That way when 20 years have gone by and you are driving your new Mercedes, alone, to the islands for a week long ski trip you will not suffer an episode of enlightenment when your son or daughter takes the time to text you just to let you know how sorry they were for missing you when they were in town……

…..sometimes to win the race you have to slow down.

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Take the time, as you review your resolutions for the new year, to see if the following thoughts fit into your gameplan for the coming year.

1. Visualize How You want Your Life To Be-

take the time every day to relax and think about what you want. Visualize how you see yourself. What you are doing, what you are wearing, who you hang out with.  Change how you dress if that makes you feel  better about yourself. See yourself as someone with endless energy and ready to conquer the world or at least your next task. Feel good about yourself.

2. Learn Something New Everyday-

keep reading, researching, and brainstorming. Just reading something of interest may turn on a light that gives you an idea or answer to an issue you have been pondering.

3. Interact With Positive People-

if your friends are negative they will bring you down. There are people who find something wrong with any experience, or idea that comes their way. These people may be members of your own family. Make it a goal to network and make friends with positive people that have similar interest to your own. Those are the people that will keep you motivated when things do not seem to be going as planned.

4. Enjoy The Simple Things-

take the time to enjoy the things you like to do. What kind of life is it to only focus on what you think others expect from you. Take the time to smell the roses.

5. Laugh Alot- this is the cheapest, safest form of therapy anyone can have. Laughing helps you forget your troubles, decreases stress, and stimulates the release of endorphins, which are the bodies natural pain killers.

6. Make Fitness A Part Of Your Life-

if you do not focus and take care of yourself what good will you be to others? Exercising decreases stress, helps clear mental cloudiness, relaxes you, improves your morale, and helps you be more productive. You will enjoy life, your work, be more pleasant to be around and increase your chances of living a longer and healthier life.

7. Stay Healthy-

you should make educating yourself on what is considered optimal health a life long goal. Take the time to learn what your ideal weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol should be. Know and understand what illness you may be at risk for based upon your life style, family history, and habits. You may think that is your doctors problem, but in reality you are ultimately responsible for your own health. The most important thing you can do for yourself and loved ones is doing your part to understand your health so that you can live a longer and more productive life. If there are health problems that need addressed, approach them one at a time, unless it is something potentially life threatening.(

Take the time out of your day to see your doctor for an annual checkup. Make it your personal health goal to get your blood pressure less than 120/70, your cholesterol less than 200, LDL (bad cholesterol) less than 100, HDL (good cholesterol) greater than 45, learn about body mass index and strive to bring yours within ideal range, add stress management to your daily routine, educate yourself on nutrition and implement just one thing at a time until it becomes who you are, set your goal to do some exercise (even if you can not get out of a chair) at least once per week and build up to three times per week for 30-45 minutes.

8. Be Happy-

if you are unhappy you must look inside to determine what keeps you in that state of mind. There is no question that financial, health, relationship, and others problems can weigh so heavily on you that it is hard to see the joy in any aspect of your life. Life and the issues that go with it can be overwhelming. If you are having trouble seeing light at the end of the tunnel talk to someone about your problems. Sometimes just hearing someone elses perspective on something will improve your outlook and give you direction. Do not be embarassed to seek professional counseling. Some of the brightest and most successful people have a therapist to help them keep things in check. Try to look inside yourself and find what you need to bring you happiness.

Try to find inside yourself what would make you happy if you were never being able to change your current relationships, financial situation, or social status. I am sure there are others that would agree that having more than enough money, the biggest house, the nicest car, etc. does not ultimately bring more happiness. These things all come with there own set of headaches. Financial security does provide you with more oppurtunities, but not true happiness. This is not intended to give you an excuse to maintain status quo, but to encourage you to look deeper for what you need in life to make you feel content and happy.

9. Manage Your Stress-

we are all unique in how we respond to life stressors. You must find ways to help relieve stress even if you only allow yourself 5 minutes per day. Unmanaged stress will impact all aspects of your life in a negative way. Offer to help someone out, so that they can take a stress relieving break. They will more than likely be happy to return the favor.

10. Take A Worry Break-

constantly worrying about all of lifes issues can paralyze you. It can lead to procrastination in all aspects of your life. If you are constantly worrying about things take the time to write them all down. Then look at each one and determine if there is something or someone that could help remove that worrry. Letting someone else help you deal with issues that are overwhelming will allow you to focus on more important things in your life in a more productive way. It could be something as simple as letting someone else deal with phone calls from bill collectors that you find yourself avoiding. It may be hard to do and require some practice, but give yourself 5 or 10 minutes per day, to just worry about the things that are on your mind.Then get back to focusssing on more important task that will help bring back the joy in your life.

11. Teach Something-

we all have unique experiences, knowlege, and wisdom that will benefit another. Keep learning then pass it on. The best way to keep feeling young is to feel useful. Make it your goal, for the new year, to pass along something useful to someone that expresses an interest in your interest.

12. Network-

keep your foot in the door, so that you can be prepared for the unexpected in todays economy.

13. Me Time-

take time for you.

14. Learn A New Skill-

try learning something new, then teaching it to others. If you do not already have a website or blog, start one.

15.  Adopt A New Healthy Habit Once Per Week-

16. Learn Stress Management Skills

Allow yourself the opportunity to live long enough to achieve your dreams.

17. Stop One Bad Habit

Continue to work on your personal develpment one step at a time.

19. Smile

You will cause someone to smile back at you.

20. Stay Inspired

Revisit what you want in life and what you find passionate

21. Boost Your Self Esteem-

Write all the good things you have accomplished in your life.

22. Stay Motivated

Write down all the good things you accomplished every four weeks at the end of every month.

21. Develop A Team-

this will allow you to focus on the things you are truly passionate about.

No matter what your game, if you are doing the best that you can, then that should be good enough.

If you want to find contentment and happiness you must not allow your satisfaction in life to revolve around how someone else is living or doing things.

If you are making a living, taking care of your family, and being a good parent then no one can or has the right to try and make you feel they are better than you.

If you are not happy with your performance then look at how others are doing something similar to what you are currently focussing your time on. Study their methods and then tweek your system until you get to where you want to be.  Watching and learning how others perform certain task or conduct their lives does not make them a better person, they may just be more efficient or have a differnt skill set than you.

This could be applied to anyone. It doesn’t matter if your game is being a parent, teaching second grade, a physician, nurse, pumping gas, or running the most powerful country in the world. There will always be someone that does it a little better or different than you do. That makes them an oppurtunity for you to learn from and fine tune your skills.

I speculate that future wealth will not be reflected by our checking account balance, but in the value we provide to others through networking and just being a good person.

No matter how small or unbelievable your goals may be for 2011, make it your mission to share something of value with another. Those things that you consider trivial may be just what is needed to change your world and the world of those around you.

Anything you pursue in life will involve leadership and management. You need to have leadership skills if you are going to do the right things for your business and life. Managing involves taking whatever is required to run your business and life and taking the right actions to get things done.

Time management is a crucial aspect of achieving success in life and business. Procrastination can result in the loss of a customer, money, the one you love, and the ultimate opportunity that may allow you to live the life of your dreams.

Are you shy? Do you have difficulty coping with people or situations? Then I have good news for you. You do not have to suffer from shyness and you should not feel insecure and fear that you are being judged with every step you take.

Winning the war with shyness takes practice, but is definitely well worth the effort as the result is increasing confidence and self esteem. Wake up feeling good about yourself, able to face the world with confidence and security and the knowing that no feeling of shyness can come in your way of achieving your desires.

There are hundreds of books written on the subject of how beat shyness and gain confidence, but there are a few techniques that anyone can practice. Here are 6 suggestions of techniques on how to overcome your shyness:

1. Every morning, as soon as you get up, get in front of a mirror and say out loud “I feel terrific! I feel terrific! I feel terrific!” Repeat this affirmation with enthusiasm at least ten times everyday until it’s ingrained into your subconscious mind. If feel a little self conscious to begin with lock yourself in the bathroom. The results will amaze you.

2. Feel good about yourself. Look your best. Dress up more often. This gives you an extra feeling of confidence and self esteem. On its own just knowing that you look good will boost your confidence and reinforce with others that there are things about you that are worth getting to know.

3. Take a risk at least once a day. It’s very invigorating and conquering fears by taking risks helps you grow in confidence and self esteem. Start with small risks and fears and as you overcome them move onto bigger things. There’s nothing you cannot do. Be confident in knowing that change can only help you grow, and boost your self confidence.

4. When you are engaged in a one to one conversation, or with a larger group of people, let them know that you’re shy. This prevents them from misreading you and they are far more likely to invite you into the conversation rather than leave you just listening and wishing you could contribute.

Many people, me included, find following a conversation in a noisy room difficult. If you are having difficulty say so and move so that you can hear. People respect honesty, and vulnerability and you will attract more honest people into your life as a result.

5. Rejection is a fact of life that everyone experiences. It is rarely you that is being rejected. If you are rejected, for example if you ask someone for a date, remember that everyone has different likes and dislikes. You may be attracted to one type of person and not others. The same applies to other people and you are probably just not their type. That does not devalue you in any way. Accept this and know that you will get over it. Never take it personally and keep in mind that if people reject you it is because of their own likes and dislikes and not because of who you are. You are equally entitled to reject others because of your likes and dislikes.

6. Engage in an activities that make you feel excited and good about yourself or start a hobby that gives you a feeling of relaxation. This could be anything from gardening to Tai Chi to Karate. Take some lessons, learn or master a musical instrument or take singing lessons. Do something that excites you and take a risk. Exploring things that make you feel excited is a great antidote for shyness.

We are all concerned about our health, but may not be aware of certain numbers that help us determine if we have a healthy heart.

Blood pressure is the first number you’ll want to check. This is actually a measurement of the force of blood against the walls of your blood vessels. It’s made up of two numbers. The top number is your systolic pressure, which is the highest pressure on your vessel walls when your heart is beating.

The bottom number is called your diastolic pressure. This is the pressure on the vessel wall when your heart has relaxed between beats.

Your blood pressure may go up or down because of stress or movement, however, the average pressure should be about 120/80.

The bottom number is the one that usually concerns your doctor the most, since it is a reflection of the pressure when your heart is at rest. Many things can raise your diastolic blood pressure including fluid retention, stress, pain, hardening of the arteries, and some medications.

Cholesterol is the other number you need to know. There are four numbers here that you’ll want to measure. The first is your total cholesterol. A healthy total cholesterol number is under 200. From 200-239 you’re at borderline risk for heart disease, and higher than 240 puts you at high risk.

Cholesterol can also be broken down into HDL, LDL, and triglycerides. HDL stands for high-density lipoprotein and is the healthy cholesterol. Your HDL number should be at least 40 or higher.

LDL is your low-density lipoprotein, or unhealthy cholesterol. Your LDL numbers should be below 100 to have the best heart health. Doctors are even recommending that you get your LDL cholesterol less than 70 if you have known underlying coronary artery disease.

Finally, your triglyceride numbers should be below 150. This is the kind of cholesterol that comes from unhealthy fats.

You also need to know your blood glucose level, which is also known as your blood sugar level. It is a measurement used to find out if you have diabetes. Many people have high blood sugar and have absolutely no symptoms. Diabetes can increase your risk of developing heart disease. Healthy blood glucose levels are between 70 mg/dl and 100 mg/dl.

The next step is for you to make an appointment with your doctor, so that he or she can examine you and perform the necessary blood test. The blood test are typically done in the fasting state or nothing by mouth after midnight the night before testing. Your doctor may allow you to take your routine medications in the morning with water prior to coming in for the test. The test results should be back within a few days, depending upon the location of the lab and the time needed by your doctor to review the test.

It is important to remember that all of the aforementioned numbers could be normal and you could still have underlying heart disease. By focussing on achieving the above recommendations you are doing your part to help prevent the development or progression of underlying heart disease.

You can now start taking the steps necessary to change your lifestyle and optimize your heart health.

There is a tool that is available to you and that is called an Action Plan. An Action Plan is different from a “To Do List” because it deals specifically with reaching one single goal. To do lists are used for multiple tasks that are unrelated to each other.

An action plan will help you to concentrate on each stage of your ultimate goal and helps chart your progress towards it. Drawing up an Action Plan simply means to list the tasks that need to be completed to achieve your main goal. It sounds simple and it is, while also being extremely useful in charting your progress. An Action Plan will help keep you on track if you tend to get distracted or discouraged about reaching your goal. It’s such a joy to be able to mark each task off your list and see how each step is bringing you closer to your goal.

The following is an example of an action plan for publishing a book:

Develop your plot ideas and your characters. You have to start somewhere and you should know your characters and have a basic idea of what type of book you want to write. Determine if it will be fiction or non-fiction, for adults, children, or a book of poetry. That should be the first item on your Plan of Action.

Write your book. Take it chapter by chapter and keep plugging away on your manuscript until it is done. You may only write a paragraph at a time, but you are still working toward your main goal of publication.

Revisions and editing is the next step after your book is completed. It’s a necessary step to the process even if it isn’t your favorite part of writing. You want to send the very best to an interested publishing company, agent, or editor.

Research where your manuscript should be sent. You really don’t want to send your romance novel to a science fiction publishing house. It’s important to know your market. Research; find publishing companies that are happy to take a new author if that’s what you are. Find out what their specialty is before you send that manuscript.

You have researched, now it’s time to send a query letter. This letter will give a short synopsis of your story and hope it will grab the interest of an editor.

Your book has been accepted and is on its way to publication. Now is the time to do pre-publicity. Talk about your book, be your own promoter. Unless you are a big name author already, chances are, you will be the main PR person for your book. Take a pro-active interest in promoting your book to family, friends, and businesses in your area. In this area, don’t be shy, if you don’t let them know about your book, no one else may.

Success! Your book is published and now nationally and internationally available. You’ve reached your goal taking small steps and working your Action Plan. Celebrate and then make a new goal and start working on that.

You will achieve satisfaction in marking your action steps off your list.

If you’re original Action Plan looks too short or has too many large steps, try breaking it down into smaller steps to help keep you moving closer to your goal.

This can also work when you begin thinking about starting your own business. In fact, an Action Plan is recommended before you begin looking for financing for your new venture. An Action Plan will be slightly different from the one I outlined above, but will use the same basic principals.

The key is to create your action plan, then take one step at a time until you have reached your goal. Rewarding yourself after completing each task will help keep you motivated to achieve your ultimate goal. An Action Plan will help you stay organized, chart your progress, and help keep your goal in sight.