10 Goal Setting Tips to Help Your New Year’s Resolutions Stick
January 2, 2010 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 9 Comments
It’s a New Year. It’s A New Decade. It’s time to think about setting resolutions…or is it? Setting New Year’s resolutions may be a time-honored tradition but unfortunately making last-minute vows during a champagne toast isn’t an effective approach. Research consistently shows that New Year’s resolutions don’t work and that four out of five people who make resolutions fail to keep them.
So, how can you effectively approach making positive changes in your life in 2010? How can you ensure that you’ll stick with your goals beyond January 15th? You’ve got to make sure that your goals possess a “STICKINESS” factor. Here are some suggested steps from Susan MacCaul Siegmund from Mindbloom for doing that:
Mindbloom is a visual inspiration, goal setting and tracking system unlike anything you’ve seen. Mindbloom is a simple, fun and effective way to design the life you want and make lasting changes. Join the New Year’s Revolution by growing the life you want at www.mindbloom.com. X
- Start with the Big Picture: Time to turn off the autopilot and consciously set your vision for the new year. Redefine success in your own terms. What changes do you want to see in your life and roles? Why do you want this?
- Tighten the Focus: Get clear on key areas of focus for 2010. Set priorities based on the roles you play (e.g. mom, entrepreneur, spouse, self, etc.) Avoid being myopically focused on any one role as that leads to imbalance. While you are the queen of multitasking, keep your focus simple! Start with 1-3 priority areas and expand over time. Don’t neglect your “self” role. You’ve got to put on your oxygen mask first!
- Identify Intentions: Set a goal or inspiring intention statement for each focus area. Make sure that your motivations aren’t fueled by “shoulds!” 2010 is a great time to stop “shoulding on thyself!”
- Choose Actions: Break down goals and intentions into small, actionable, baby steps. Ensure that your steps are specific, realistic, achievable and sustainable. You don’t have to know all the steps, just start with one or two.
- Keep Moving Forward: Take small steps on a daily or weekly basis to help you stick with your goals and sustain the changes you want. You’ve got to do your part to make your intentions manifest.
- Introspect: Track progress and journal insights. This will help you to adjust your plan accordingly and ensure that the changes you want come to fruition and are sustainable.
- Network With Encouragers: Identify your personal “circle of support” (the people in your life who support and encourage your growth.) Ask for their support. Research shows that individuals who are trying to make changes benefit from the support of others.
- Encourage Others: Encourage your supporters in return or pay it forward by supporting someone else with their dreams. But, don’t lose yourself in the process.
- Stop the Inner Saboteur: Transform your inner saboteur into your inner ally! Work to understand the disempowering choices, behaviors and actions that might be getting in the way of manifesting your intentions. Instead, consciously choose actions that will shift your experience and empower you.
- Share Successes: Celebrate accomplishments both big and small. Toot your own horn. Share progress with your “Circle.” Tweet. Blog. Journal. Added bonus… gratitude and appreciation are scientifically proven stress reducers and health boosters!
Susan MacCaul Siegmund is a Certified Coach and Mindbloom’s Vice President of Product and Partner Marketing. Her unique career journey spans nearly 25 years and blends together extensive experience as a marketer, certified coach and educator. She is an expert on women in midlife and holds a Masters Degree in Human Development. Picture courtesy of Flickr.
Gal to Gal Foundation: Design & Donate
July 10, 2009 by Emily Hill · 1 Comment
I honestly believe the companies that give back to the community, whether through monetary donations, product, or time, are the ones that are most successful–and I’m not just talking about the bottom line. I find it much easier to spend money when I know some of that money is supporting a worthy cause. Take that worthy cause, add a really fun site, and throw in a fab line of personalized products and you now have the recipe for a perfectly “sweet” company Design-her Gals.
Design-her Gals is a site where you can create a “gal” who looks just like you (or in some cases just like you’d like to look!). Choose her eye and hair color, hair style, outfit, and accessories (wish I owned those shoes in real life!). You can then put your gal on a variety of products including business cards, notepads, to-do lists, luggage tags, and water bottles. But as fun as the designing is, the donating is even better because a percentage of all sales goes to the Gal to Gal Foundation.
The Gal to Gal Foundation was started by Jeanne Fitzmaurice, Design-her Gals’ Go-to Gal (i.e. owner). The foundation’s purpose is to help grant wishes and provide other important benefits for Stage IV breast cancer patients. The inspiration for G2G came when Jeanne learned through a friend’s experience with Stage IV breast cancer just how scarce funds are for those in this critical stage, a stage when health insurance benefits may be reduced or canceled and hospice care hard to find. “We want all Stage 4 patients to make the journey to their next destination with as much style and grace as they’ve shown traveling through this one.”
In October of last year Design-her Gals and FranklinCovey launched a collection of new products dedicated to help raise funds for the Gal to Gal Foundation. You can now carry your super cool Design-her Gals memo paper, calling cards, and perpetual calendar in a one-of-a-kind, super chic tote! Who knew you were choosing to make a difference to women with breast cancer while choosing which avatar to put on your coffee mug? Design-her Gals gives you a way to creatively express yourself and in turn you’ll be giving to the Gal to Gal Foundation. Design and donate, baby. Design and donate.
Making “You” Your Number One Priority!
July 8, 2009 by Emily Hill · 1 Comment
If I asked how many of you believe taking time for yourself is important, I’m pretty sure every woman reading this post would raise her hand. But if I asked how many of you actually find the time—and then take it—I’m sure many of your hands would remain sadly, dejectedly in your lap.
Why is it so many women know they desperately need “me time” yet so few actually make the time for it? For one, many of us have way too much going on in our busy lives. From children to businesses to laundry to volunteer work, who has time to shower and sleep let alone read a book or spend an hour at the salon? And that’s where I think the problem lies. Are you too busy adding things to your to-do list that you overlook the one person your family, co-workers, friends rely on to make sure those to-dos get done—YOU?
Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying it isn’t important to forget yourself and serve others, but you can’t serve others very well if you have nothing left to give because you’re tired, stressed, and on the verge of going postal if one more person asks you to do one more thing. Remember the old saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?” It totally applies to the subject of taking time for yourself. A 15-minute walk, a 30-minute Starbuck’s run with a girlfriend, or a 60-minute massage will prevent you from going insane in a world that is constantly demanding more of your time, energy, and talents.
I find—and my husband is now a firm believer—that I am a much better wife, mother, and friend when I can sweat out my stress at the gym for an hour or participate in some “retail therapy” with a couple girlfriends. I return rejuvenated and recharged and HAPPY. That last part is the most important because when I’m happy, EVERYONE is happy. Trite but oh, so true!
Whether you have to schedule a pedi on the family calendar with permanent marker or find it easier to leave the house last minute for a walk around the neighborhood with your BFF, make sure that to-do list has “me time” on it, preferably near the top. Hot stone massage at the local spa? $65. Avoiding a straightjacket and padded room? Priceless.
Image by Dennis Wong, shared via Flickr.
When Others Rely on You, How Do You Strengthen Yourself?
January 29, 2009 by jyl johnson pattee · 2 Comments
Tara McCausland our Mom It Forward guest author, has been in the business of teaching, training and coaching for 5 years and is the owner of Joy Quest Coaching. She has been married for four blissful years and is the mother of a hyperactive bundle of boy joy.
Do you remember Stuart Smalley from Saturday Night Live?
You know, he wore those tacky 80’s sweaters and at the beginning and ending of each segment he would look himself in the mirror and say, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and – doggonit – people like me.” As a youngster, I remember thinking this was just downright silly. But now, twenty plus years later, I am recognizing more and more how important this “self love” is to our personal well-being. As women, with so many voices swirling around us saying that we are not good enough, not skinny enough, not capable enough – believing in our innate value and treating ourselves with care is imperative.
Here are 4 things we can each do to treat ourselves right so that we can maintain a healthy self-image and, most importantly, be happy.
Invest in Yourself: Imagine yourself as a walking cash box and each day, people are taking out withdrawals (i.e. your 3 yr old flips out in the grocery store, your co-worker needs a pep talk, etc). Withdrawals take time and energy. So, if you are not consciously putting something back into that box, what will eventually happen? Sooner or later you will have nothing left to give and it is near impossible to feel good about 
yourself when you are running on empty. Make self investing a priority and recognize that in order to be the best you can be – you need to invest in your physical, mental, social/emotional, and spiritual self. This needs to be a daily, weekly ritual. When you block out some time to exercise, brush up on a skill, spend time with friends/family, and ponder what is important to you – you will feel good about yourself and have the energy and desire to then give to those around you.
Stick to your Guns: It seems the world has gone a little topsey turvey where in some cases good is labeled as bad and bad celebrated as good. Regardless of our race or creed, we all have an inner voice that warns us when something is amiss. If you encounter a trend or belief system that does not resonate with you, be courageous, stick to your guns, and live with integrity. Do not fret if you appear to be the only one that possesses that value. Chances are there are others like you around the world carrying a similar banner. When we stand up for what we believe in, this – more than any thing else – will help us maintain self-respect and allow us to hold our head high in any company.
Dream BIGGEST: Often we put ourselves in an invisible box, limiting us to what we think we should or should not do, or worse, what we can or cannot do. Do not allow fear of failure or pressure to fit a perceived mold hold you back from living your dreams. You may be a busy wife and/or mother (or you may not be). But whatever you are, if you love to bake, bake. If you love to write, write. If you love to ski, ski. In every case, I believe there is a way to live your dreams without losing sight of what is most important. Living with passion is what keeps life novel and exciting. Without it, our days can feel joyless and mundane. Contributing something unique to the world is a great source of fulfillment and self-confidence.
Eliminate Guilt: Finally, 
self-judgment ain’t on the to do list. Throw away the gavel! Constantly putting ourselves down only zaps our confidence and rips the beauty out of every life experience. Instead, simply do the best you can and then give your self special permission to be satisfied with that. Remember, it is not what we do that makes us valuable. We are valuable simply because we are!
Like Mr. Smalley said, you are good enough and smart enough so do yourself a favor and treat you right. It is the key to living confidently, successfully, and joyfully!
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Menu Plan—Save Time & Money
January 22, 2009 by jyl johnson pattee · 6 Comments
Andrea Deckard is a stay-at-home mommy with an amazing husband and three energetic boys. In her *spare* time she loves to shop with coupons and make files to track her savings and organize her home. Stop by Mommy Snacks for zero-calorie Snacks to Save, Earn, Live and Learn.
It’s 5 o’clock. You are exhausted. The last thing you want to figure out is what you are going to eat. And, oh yeah, you have to make it too! So, in an effort to maintain the energy you have left, you opt for take-out.
Does this sound like you?
I’ve been there more than I care to admit! For me, to avoid the overspending of either take-out or grocery shopping at the last minute, I started Menu Planning. Menu Planning is simply creating a menu for your family meals. Here’s what it will do for you.
- Prevent headaches
- Save money
- Save time
Here are a few tips to help you if you are interested in Menu Planning: 
What does your family eat?
What they *actually* eat. I have a Menu Planning Recipe Box that includes the meals my family eats the most. This is a great resource to utilize as you are creating the meal ideas for your family and will be helpful as you plan too.
What is on sale?
With the list of your family favorites, look at the grocery ads to find ingredients you can prepare on the cheap. You will probably have items in your pantry or freezer that you can use as well (stockpiling items at low, low prices is a good thing to consider). Your menu plan will help to prevent last minute trips to the store.
How often will you Menu Plan?
I personally plan my menu by the week, but some plan by the month. Just pick a frequency that works for you and start! With your list of meal ideas and grocery list of menu ingredients, creating your actual menu plan will be an easy step. 
Creating your Menu Plan
Keeping a written/printed menu plan is the easiest thing to do. Each Sunday, I print off our Menu Plan for the upcoming week and pull or print required recipes. I then clip all recipes together and hang on the fridge so I know where they are when I’m ready to cook. This step helps to execute your plan. I can quickly look at the menu plan and get meat thawing in the fridge or bring items up from our stockpile. So, when it’s time to cook, the prep is done and I just prepare our feast!
Menu Planning helps tremendously, but sometimes life gets in the way and I don’t prepare each meal as planned. But, at least I have a plan in place so I don’t overspend trying to pull something together on the fly. I feel better about what I do accomplish because at least I took the time to prepare a plan. And, knowing I saved time, money and a few headaches makes it worth it for me! * Photo Credits: Cocobucket29, autumlovr
Note: This coming Tuesday will be the First
MomItForward’s “#GNO Gab & Give” on Twitter!
What does that mean? STAY TUNED!!
