Happy New Year!

Hope you had a great holiday. Mine was with family - and peaceful and quiet - including New Year's Eve - which is just the way I like it! Kind of amazing to think that, now that it's 2007, we are closer to 2010 and the end of the decade than we are to the beginning!!! (Anyone still remember the "Great Millennium New Year's Celebration?!?) Amazing how the years have been flying by!

Normally I don't do New Year's resolutions - probably because I rarely kept them. But this week I spent some time working on an exercise from Working Effortlessly, the newsletter from Annemarie Segaric (www.segaric.com). (You may remember her from the article she wrote for the June AgeWiseLiving™ newsletter.) Not only is it fun, but it's an exercise that actually makes me feel very optimistic about achieving my goals. So enthusiastic, in fact, that I just had to share it with you. Enjoy!

Until next month, be well and have the very happiest and healthiest of New Years!

ARTICLE: MAKING PLANS FOR 2007

As I said before, normally I don't do New Year's resolutions because I was never able to keep them. I guess that's because they were so big, I didn't know where to start. Yet when I did Annemarie's exercise, I realized I accomplished some pretty amazing things this past year and using her formula, I'm pretty excited about setting and achieving my goals for 2007. Here's her suggestion. See if you think it will work for you, too!

Grab a journal and take these steps:

1) Think back to each month starting with January 2006 and come up with one thing you are proud of having accomplished or done. Whether it was taking a much needed vacation, asking for a raise, ending an unhealthy relationship, cleaning out clutter from your home, or paying off one of your credit cards, write it down. Big or small, make a list of your accomplishments to remind yourself how good it feels to take charge of your life.

2) Now imagine it's December 31, 2007. Write down what you see yourself writing down on your accomplishment list. These are your goals for the year.

3) Create a brief list (that you'll further flesh out in January) of what it will take to make each of these goals a reality. Be honest about the effort you'll have to put in to make the new career, the move, the improved love life, etc. happen. If you feel deep resistance to taking the first step, drop that goal and only focus on the ones you are honestly ready to work for.

4) Find other people to surround yourself with who are serious about making major life improvements in 2007. Join the Career Change Community, work with a coach, meet people at workshops like A New Career in the New Year, or start your own mastermind group.

Follow these steps and you'll be able to end next year with more great accomplishments!

For more information about receiving Working Effortlessly, attending Annmarie's seminars, her career change pocket booklet, 107 Tips For Changing Your Career While Still Paying the Bills, and her Life Coaching, go to www.segaric.com.

And remember, if one of your goals is getting your eldercare issues resolved by choice, not crisis, and you don't know how to proceed, I urge you not to wait for a crisis to develop. Please call me toll-free (877) AGE-WISE or email me at Barbara@AgeWiseLiving.com for a complimentary "get acquainted" conversation. I'm here to help!

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