In the media, every year seems to start and end the same way.  You see stories in January about resolutions for changes in diet, lifestyle, fashion, and how to “live your best life”.  Then in December, we’re hit with a recap of everything that took place that year and how it was the best of times and the worst of times.  Somewhere in the middle, you either made a positive change in your life or not.

Do you have a dream or passions that you would truly like to pursue?  Is there ever going to be a better time to take care of your health by eating better or exercising? Do you feel lost or stuck in your current relationship or job?  

If you said yes to any of those questions, where do you even start?  Often, when I ask this to the people I work with as a life coach I usually get the same responses, “I don’t have time to do that” or “I can’t afford it” or “What would people think if I did that?”  When I rephrase the question to, “If you could wave a magic wand and have your ultimate life, what would it look like?” the answers seem to pour out.  

By envisioning your ideal life without putting limits on your possible success you allow yourself to connect with your soul and the path that it has intended for you.  To dream with your heart is the way that you will truly set a course for success, which happens to be the next step in the process…

Through dreaming, you can set an intention and put your soul in motion.  The next step to making those dreams a reality is having a plan, which starts with an assessment of where you are now so you can chart a course to your goal. This should be an honest assessment, and while you may view some of what comes up as bad or difficult, it is only temporary now that you are on the road to change.

Now that you know where you are and where you would like to take your life, you are almost there.  Start to think of the little steps that you can make to begin working towards that reality.  These small goals not only help chart the path to success in any venture but also add an ongoing sense of accomplishment to reinforce you along the way. For example, if your goal is to feel better and get in shape, start by slowly adding healthier foods into your diet and exercising.  Remember, you didn’t get out of shape overnight so you can’t expect to get into shape that way either.  

I believe there are three components to creating positive change in your life.  We have already talked about two, a dream and a plan, the last one is support.  As you begin to move toward making anything happen in your life, think of the places where you have unconditional support or those in your circle who can assist in making your dreams real.  One of my favorite people Dr. Christiane Northrup calls it, assisted living, in that none of us truly do anything by ourselves.