Making New Year's Resolutions, setting goals for the next twelve months, is almost second nature to us. However, according to statistics more than half of the people who made good resolutions full of enthusiasm and motivation have given up on them after only a couple of weeks feeling deflated, sad and disappointed with themselves. Discover the secret of setting and achieving your goals and make those New Year's Resolutions work!

Have you caught yourself lately thinking about the year that has past, things you want to change in your life and plans for your short and long term future? Well, it's something almost all of us do this time of the year. With the arrival of a New Year we seem to automatically make New Year's resolutions and set goals for the next twelve months. It's like second nature to us and that's fantastic.

Seize the chance and use the momentum, since assessing your current situation and making New Year's Resolutions is a great way of improving your life and your performance. In fact, it's the first step to get a better job with more responsibility and better pay, lead a happier and healthier life and spend more time with the people you love.

Setting goals correctly makes it ten times more likely to achieve them

But be aware! True! Simply making a resolution or setting a goal makes it ten times more likely for you to attain your goals than for people who don't explicitly make resolutions. However, research shows that keeping your resolutions and sticking to your goals is hard work.

More than half of the people who made good resolutions full of enthusiasm and motivation have given up on them after only a couple of weeks feeling deflated, sad and disappointed with themselves.

Has that ever happened to you? Here is good news! Discover how to make your New Year's Resolutions come true, set your goals and tick them off before the end of the year by considering the following Goal Setting Quick list.

1. Whatever your goals are write them down!

"Goals that are not written down are just wishes" is an old saying that is only too true. Writing down your goals is the first step towards achieving them. Why? Because the moment you put it on paper it becomes tangible and you create a commitment on your part. According to statistics only about three to five percent of the population actually takes the time to write their goals down. And guess what? It's exactly the same percentage that achieves them. Maybe that is why so few people are actually living the life they dream of.

When writing down your goals, make sure you use positive wording and your sentence are written in present tense as if you have already achieved your goals. "I'm attending a networking function every fortnight" is much better than "I stop avoiding networking functions". A goal stated in a positive way makes everyone focusing in a more positive way.

If you're an extremely visual person find objects that symbolise your goals in stead of writing about them. Be creative!

2. Be as specific as possible about your goals!

Whatever method you choose, make sure to be as specific as possible when talking, writing or even drawing your goals. If your goal is become the best sales person in our company, think about what it means to be the best sales person, what qualification or special skills do you need?

Get as much information as possible and outline specific steps you need to take to achieve your goal! Will you need to attend training? If so, how often? Who provides the training? What skills do you have to work on? Your communication skills? Are there any books you could read, videos you could watch, experts you could contact who could help you?

Establish an action plan and put exact timelines to your goas to make achievements measurable.

All done? Congratulations! However, it's not over yet. Let the list sit for 24 hours and revise it before you continue to take the four remaining steps that will guarantee your life becomes happier, healthier and wealthier by setting and achieving your goals for 2009 successfully. Meanwhile, read Part Two of "Goal Setting for Beginners - How to make your New Year's Resolutions work" to find out how you will succeed. Don't waste a minute. Read it now!