It’s a new year! Have you made your resolutions? Isn’t that what everyone asks at this time of year?

I’ve made one. One single resolution: to make goals instead of resolutions!

If you’ve ever made New Year’s resolutions you probably have a drawer full of well intentioned resolutions that amounted to nothing much. Those 2 weeks at the gym were very expensive. We intended to go all year but let’s face it our resolve lasted about 2 weeks. And those small sized clothes? They’re still in the back of the closet. If resolutions worked, well we would be living a very different life than the one we are.

According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary:

res·o·lu·tion

noun \ˌre-zə-ˈlü-shən\

: the act of finding an answer or solution to a conflict, problem, etc. : the act of resolving something

: an answer or solution to something

Did you find a solution? Not by resolving to lose weight, or get fit, or make more money. No list of dreams for the coming year, no yellow sticky of affirmation, no frequently visited list of hopes will solve a problem just because we want it to.

Resolutions can lead to discouragement if they remain resolutions without being turned into action plans. We need clear steps and plans to turn those hopes into reality. Buying a gym membership is no guarantee of reaching your fitness goal. Opening a savings account will not change your finances. Cutting out photos of beautiful beaches will not whisk you to your dream vacation spot.

Let’s take the common resolution to lose weight this year. Ok, how much weight? How long will we keep it off? How will we do it? What are we willing to change in our life to accomplish this? What are we willing to get rid of? What are we willing to add to our life? Do we have the time? Is it that important? These are questions we need to ask before we begin the journey. Why? Because losing weight is not something that happens by accident or by good intention. It takes effort, and it takes change in a lot of areas of our lives. Just wanting to do it this year is likely to leave us disappointed.

How about getting out of debt? A great and noble desire, but without clear steps to do that we are likely to end up in a bigger hole at the end of 2014 than the one we started in. We need a plan with specific steps, tangible goals and measurable results in order to succeed.

The beginning of a new year is a great time to take stock of our lives and make course adjustments to help us reach the goals and dreams we have. It’s a great time to create sensible plans with manageable steps to achieve our goals. Sometimes we need help figuring out how to create those steps and plans. This is where having a great coach helps.

Buy a book from someone who truly has a track record of helping others achieve the same goals they claim to have reached. Take a class and learn about what it takes to make those dreams reality.  Ask questions.

This January you can begin a new year with new goals and dreams coming true. It’s going to take work and patience, but you can do it. This year instead of resolving to… let’s set goals make step by step plans for transformation.