New Year resolutions often fall into the wishing and hoping category. If we say ‘I’d like to give up smoking’ or ‘I need to lose weight’ or ‘I really should get fit’ or ‘I should get a better job’ our chances of success aren’t great. Why not? The wording alone makes these more like a wish list of things that we think will make us happier if they happened. This is a bit like saying “I’d like to win the lottery” and the very lack of conviction makes their odds of success pretty similar.

These are not decisions. Decisions are when we say to ourselves ‘I am going to do whatever I have to do to lose 30 pounds in the next six months’ or ‘I am not prepared to put up with my lousy job any longer’. We need to decide that ‘enough is enough’ and be absolutely serious that this is what we want. We need to be prepared get any information and help we need, form a plan and be prepared to take massive and consistent action. We need to be 100% committed to our decisions and be prepared to follow through whatever it takes.

Wherever we are in our lives now, it is due to the decision we’ve made in the past. It can also be due to the lack of decisions we’ve made. Many people drift through life with no real purpose or plans and never really make many, if any serious decisions.

If we want to make positive changes to our lives and have greater success and happiness, there are many self improvement books, audio programs, seminars and coaching programs that can help enormously.

However, the first step to making any change is making a decision, whether it’s to give up smoking or start that business you’ve been talking about for years.

We can have access to the best personal development tools available, but without having made the necessary decisions, little will change. But when we make firm decisions and know exactly what we want, we will find the strength and resources, and take the actions needed to succeed.

Self Improvement Tips Quote of the Day:

”Vacillating people seldom succeed. Successful men and women are very careful in reaching their decisions, and very persistent and determined in action thereafter.” - L. G. Elliott