Every 365 days we have the opportunity to close the door on an old year and start fresh with a new one. Oftentimes we set resolutions that don’t get accomplished and then each New Year begins to look like the old. The only way that we can break that cycle is to get intentional about what we are going to do and accomplish when we start the New Year. Here are 4 steps to help you to create your new start for 2015.

Set SMART goals. People who actually set goals are 10 times more likely than those that don’t to achieve their goals. However, the goals that you set must be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. Think about what you want to accomplish this year, and set a time for completion, and develop a plan with milestones to help you to achieve them.

Dream Big. It’s ok to dream. You are meant to have a wonderful and prosperous life. Sometimes when we are chasing our careers, caring for others, maintaining the household, and running errands we forget to take time to identify what makes us happy and we forget what fills us up. As a child we dreamed all day without any thought about what was realistic and what wasn’t. Get back to that place. Take the limitations off, and just dream big. Ask yourself, “What would I do if I knew I couldn’t fail?”

Engage in Reflection. Take some time to reflect on the prior year and ask yourself if you accomplished what you wanted to accomplish. If you had a dream, then what did you do to advance it? The benefits of reflection is that you are able to identify what went well, what didn’t, and then take those lessons and then apply them to make the next assignment, goal, or phase of your life better.

Celebrate your accomplishments. Oftentimes we don’t celebrate the things that we do well, because we are too busy criticizing ourselves for what didn’t go well. I had dinner with a friend of mine who is a health and wellness coach, and he told me that he has a client who was mad at herself because she only lost 5 pounds over the holidays. In her mind the 5 pounds weren’t enough, but she totally missed the point that she lost weight during a time were most people gain. Changing our habits and are lives are hard enough without destructive self-talk sabotaging our efforts. Next time, instead of criticizing yourself, look for ways to celebrate your accomplishments.

I hope that these tips will help you to position yourself to win big this year. Be sure to leave a comment to let me know how you will be using these tips this year.

Aisha Taylor is a #1 Amazon Best Selling Author of the book “5+5 FNPhenomenal Ways to Save $100 This Week Without Killing Your Lifestyle”, and the Founder of FNPhenomenal (Frugal –n- Phenomenal). FNPhenomenal helps women to break the vicious cycle of making money, but not keeping it. FNPhenomenal provides education about money management, empowers women to take control of their lives, develop a healthier relationship with money, and pursue being phenomenal.

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