Every year, millions of Australians make New Year’s resolutions…and then just as predictably break them.

The development and subsequent failure of the New Years resolution transcends any normal thought patterns, however people persist with a weary tradition that is generally serves only to undermine the individuals mindset.

New Years resolutions never achieve anything except for fostering a nation of failures. Instead of making meaningless goals, take responsibility for your life and create change. Change doesn’t come through New Years resolutions but through embracing change and addressing the root cause of your problems!

Failing to follow through with New Year resolutions only succeeds in making you feel miserable and will subconsciously set the pattern for 2009.

Will you choose in 2009 to toughen you up, smarten you up and develop a fight-back attitude?

“When the pain you’re in is greater than the pain it takes to change …then you are ready for change!”

It is that time…time to thrive and survive in what is shaping up to be the most challenging year. The next 12 months are going to create more successes and failures than the last 25 years combined.

There will be people who will be barely able to put food on the table …and others who develop the winning skills to actually THRIVE in this terrible economic meltdown. This is your moment of truth…your moment of choice…your moment of action. Its crunch time in 2009!

Asses your willingness to make a real change in 2009 by answering the following questions:

1. Is it the process of changing that you don’t want to go through?
2. Do you have emotional and physical support around you – friends, partner, family, colleagues, and mentor?
3. Are you afraid of the unknown? It can stifle our motivation and keep us stuck in an unhappy situation for years. So why do we fear change – when the rewards can be more than we have ever anticipated. It is normal to fear change, but it is how you think and feel about the change which is really the point. How can you overcome your fear?
4. Does your ego get in the way? Your own behaviour could be the cause of your problems,
5. Are you wearing blinkers, or blaming others for their mistakes?
6. How high do the stakes need to be for you before you change?

To achieve extraordinary results, you must change your approach to life and change it now. Success and happiness can only come from within you. You must pinpoint what is causing your lack of motivation, inconsistent results and unhappiness and you will define the core of who you are, what your values are and where your motivation comes from?

To thrive, you must develop a “fight-back attitude”; to proactively position yourself for the long, tough battle ahead.

Anyone who wants to not quit yet again…it is time to get up, get over it and get on with it!

Go for your gold in 2009!

About Shelley Taylor-Smith
Shelley Taylor-Smith, is Australia’s No.1 Mental Toughness Coach: by looking at how they spend their time and energy – and where they focus their attention – Shelley helps people transform their Champion potential into performance. An energetic and inspirational speaker, international best-selling author and corporate educator, Shelley demonstrates how harnessing the power of your mind and boosting your self belief can help you achieve your goals. With her passionate commitment to being relatable, Shelley delivers a powerful lesson in mental toughness.

Find out more and subscribe to Shelley’s fortnightly Champion Motivations newsletter go to: http://www.championmindset.com.au/inspire.htm

Imagine being able to manipulate the future:

“Everyone knows HINDSight is 20/20, but imagine having 20/20 FOREsight in 2009!”

That is what this first blog for 2009 is all about – wanting to see if you’re getting the same ‘ol same ‘ol or have you got the Champion edge?

Let me set you up, so you can benefit as you use your 20/20 foresight like a telescope that make distant stars feel so close that you could reach out and touch them.

20/20 foresight is one of many concepts that we will explore in 2009, as we turn the page after the the most important 21 days of the year….

…remembering it takes 21 days for a new habit to become 2nd nature…. unconscious and part of who you are without having to think about it once and for all.

So is the New You bursting forth….achieving what you set out to achieve with your New Year Resolutions?

If you’re like most people, you itemised the things you want or wish to improve:

• Make more money.
• Lose weight.
• Get into a passionate relationship.
• Spend more quality time with family.
• Become fit and healthy.
• Learn a new language.
• Travel to exotic destinations.
• Cook new recipes.
• Get Better Grades.
• Quit my job and start a company.
• Follow my Passion.

But most people don’t stick to their resolutions. Why? (I will explain all the reasons why on the upcoming special live teleseminar on Wednesday 4th February at 8pm Sydney EST Australia time….reserve your seat now as it is over half full!)

It is a real shame because usually they are the list of what they want most, dream about and wish for with all their heart and soul.

If they achieved even a fraction of their New Year’s Resolutions, their lives would change and create a radically new, different destiny for them and for their family/kids.

I see it all the time.

Wishing for something to change, but not taking any action.

I want you to take action – go back through your New Year’s Resolutions. And if you have not as yet…for whatever reason…. go ahead now if you have not even started a list.

Do them in a place that inspires, motivates and empowers you to think expansively.

As you start the process, just make a list of everything you would like to have or ‘be’ … Don’t sensor yourself – that will come later.

Just take 5 to 10 minutes. Aren’t you worth 5 to 10 minutes?

Once you have your complete dream list, you now need to chunk it down to your ‘Top 10″ list – the top 10 things that you are committed to working on ALL YEAR LONG.

I select a list of 10 because that works for me. More is too much and less is not enough.

Once you have this list, try to determine “What has to happen for this to be achieved?” for each item on your ‘Top 10 list’.

For example, if one of your resolutions is “I want to be fit and healthy”, what has to happen might be: “I need to get to 80 Kilograms with 8% body fat, fit into my ’skinny jeans’. I need to do some form of exercise or sport 3 times per week as a MINIMUM. I can’t eat junk food and coke more than once a week. I no longer eat after 7 or 8 PM at night.”

The more detailed and specific you are the better.

I know this is simplistic – I get a lot of that.

People WANT success to be complex, complicated and hard. It’s because that way they can feel self-justified when they are not as successful as they would like and lie to themselves that’s it’s all too hard…

Success is actually not hard – it’s easier than failure, but few see it that way.

I mean think about it.

When you ARE successful, rich and healthy – you have options. You can buy what you need, want desire. You can travel when you want to avoid the panic rush of the masses who are all forced into a funnel during ’school holidays’…

People WANT success to be complex, complicated and hard. It’s because that way they can feel self-justified when they are not as successful as they would like and lie to themselves that’s it’s all too hard…

Success is actually not hard – it’s easier than failure, but few see it that way.

I mean think about it.

When you ARE successful, rich and healthy – you have options. You can buy what you need, want desire. You can travel when you want to avoid the panic rush of the masses who are all forced into a funnel during ’school holidays’…

When you’re successful, you can hire resources to get stuff done for you so you WORK LESS and EARN MORE. Isn’t that easier than doing the actual work?

When you’re successful, you know how to get the RESULTS that evade most people. You get paid A LOT MORE for those results, but they don’t take more effort to produce, but BECAUSE the RESULTS are better, you get PAID multiple times more than someone else who breaks his/her back producing LESSER outcomes.

When you’re successful, you are healthier, fitter and therefore have more stamina and perseverance to go the distance, the extra mile so-to-speak where all the rewards are. The rewards that pay you for your efforts instead of coming up short and although having expended ‘almost’ as much time, cost and effort pay no nothing, nada, zilch.

Trust me, success is a LOT easier. It’s the best-kept secret out there – one that I have been ‘preaching’ for years.

This is my gift to you today- since you are a Think Like A Champion Club Member, I want you extend to you a 15min coaching call to help set you up for a meaningful 2009. On the call you ask me any question related to why you are not succeeding and achieving your goals.
Email me at info@thinklikeachampionclub.com with your name and contact number to arrange your coaching time. (NB: this gift expires at midnight 31st January 2009).

And if you are serious about Making 2009 Your Year to Achieve Your Goals…. then order the Create Your Champion Mindset 7CD set at $197 (RRP $595) and be coached step-by-step through the Goal Planning System guaranteed to see you achieve your desires and what you deserve.

The 7 Cd set will also include the 90 page Ultimate step-by-step manual and bonus resource Cd is only available until 1st February at this ridiculous offer, but since you are a Think Like A Champion Club Member I wanted to make sure I did give you the impetus, the catalyst to do this NOW, to get you started on your success pathway. Order now as only 27 sets in this offer!

Yes, timing is important.

Do it NOW in the first 21 days of the YEAR, because this is what sets you up for the rest of this NEW YEAR.

You want to set the goals in the distance - the Power of the Creating Your Very Own Champion Mindset to leverage the immense potentiality of your brain’s magnificence to your benefit.

Using tips and tricks like this to catapult you forward effortlessly, like a magic carpet ride into the future.

I know, I know how simple this sounds.

I know.

I also know it works.

When I first did this at Tony Robbins’ Unleash The Power Within Firewalk Seminar in 1997, I wrote down a list of 10 TEN-YEAR GOALS.

These were goals that I would be astonished, excited, amazed and ‘beside myself’ IF and WHEN I achieved them in the NEXT 10 YEARS …

Most of those goals were too personal to share with you, but what’s important is that within 1 year, I had achieved 8 out of 10.

I had to pinch myself – literally when I re-visited my list. There it was, my 10-YEAR GOALS LIST with 8 out of 10 items ticked off.

I know how incredulous this all sounds.

I know.

I have never looked back and have been leveraging this incredible epiphany ever since.

I hope you do too.

There is NO BETTER TIME than right now to do this – other than in exactly 12 months from now…

By then YOU could have 8 out of 10 items ticked off your list!

Get Up, Get Tough and Get Going in 2009!

Cheers Shelley Taylor-Smith

P.S. One of my 10 year goals was to return to my hometown of Perth, Western Australia and set up Oceania’s 1st ever FINA Marathon Swimming World Cup event … and just this week I met with the WA Sports Minister proposing the event for March 2010 and next week I have meetings with the Perth City Council, WA Department of Sport & Recreation and WA Tourism. That’s right – and it is only day 22 of 2009!

Another goal was Marathon Swimming inclusion into the Olympic Programme which the IOC announced on October 26, 2005 (less than 10yrs that I wrote it on my 10 year goal list). The 10km marathon swim debuted in the Beijing Olympic Games on 21 August 2008. It was the most highly sought first-ever after event at the Beijing Olympic Games by the media and last week in Kuwait we met and started planning for London 2012. For many people that is a ‘lifetime goal’, one that is never realised.

The rest as they say is…

The future.

History is left behind as we set out into the future to realise our dreams, wishes, and awakenings to whatever it is we aspire to do and become.

Dream big and see what happens.

Little did I know that one of the two items in my 10 YEAR LIST that wasn’t ticked off in the first year would happen within less than 10 years…

The Think Like A Champion Club.

Yeah I know.

It’s always obvious after-the-fact.

Hindsight is 20/20, but in your case you can have…

20/20 foresight!

Write Complete Action Plans for Major Goals…

A Goal Without A Plan Is Merely A Wish Without A Hope. Without a plan, dreams and goals are but the illusive wishes of hopeful dreamers. Once you have set a clearly defined goal, immediately develop a detailed plan for its accomplishment.

Making detailed plans is where dreams are snared and fantasies caught.

“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.”~ Stephen A. Brennan

A New Year Quest…

1. Which of your goals have you left dying on the vine without a plan? __________________________________________________________

2. What project, goal or dream can you make real with a plan in 2009?
____________________________________________________________

3. Do your plans show how much you care about your New Year’s Resolutions and goals? __________________________________________________________________________

Achieve Greater Success Today. Dead stop the FEAR of success… the FEAR of failure… the FEAR of the future. Take SMARTER actions more consistently. Incorporate the Champion Mindset and Think Like A Champion philosophy into your performance and you will achieve the SUCCESS you desire… a great deal sooner. Learn more…

“When we are motivated by goals that have deep meaning, by dreams that need completion, by pure love that needs expressing, then we truly live life.” ~ Greg Anderson

It’s time to focus on Making 2009 Your Best Year Ever…

Let’s get straight to the heart of the matter. Most people set a few resolutions for change this time of year.

They resolve to lose weight… to find a more rewarding career… quit something (smoking, booze, drugs, a bad relationship)… start their own business… make more money… retire early… you name it.

Unfortunately, studies show that over 95% fail to even make it through January before losing their resolution for their New Year’s Resolutions! (Yikes….this statistic is really true too!)

They just GIVE UP, and get on with life—never realising that with a better approach, they could succeed beyond their wildest expectations. This, of course, is what leads to a life of REGRETS… not RESULTS.

Go back now to the quote at the top — and really study it.

It offers the best advice I, or anyone else can give you.
My advice: Find passion in your Goals or create new goals. Period.

Your Top Five 2009 Goals…
1. Personal__________________________________
2. Family__________________________________
3. Financial__________________________________
4. Career__________________________________
5. Community__________________________________

Your Champion Power to Achieve Them…

No question, these goals will remain on this page all year long… next year… and years thereafter—unless you commit the power to achieving them. If you are not BOTH successful AND happy with the results you produced in 2008, what are you going to DO differently in 2009?

This is a profound question. Think about it.

Go for gold! It’s your time to stand up, stand out and shine in 2009! Read more how now

Cheers Shelley Taylor-Smith

I’m not the most athletic person in the world.

I hear you….What you 7-time World Marathon Swimming World Champ…you’re kidding yourself aren’t you Shelley!

Now before you fall on the floor in shock and horror….hang in here with me…because there is a valuable lesson to achieving your goals and creating 100% self belief along the way so your self esteem soars too on your journey.

You see as a child, I grew up being told that I had no natural ability, was disabled and had nothing above average…yes me!

Growing up, you’d find me anywhere and everywhere participating on the sports field at lunch-times and after school and on Saturday mornings in the inter-school sports carnivals.

When it came to doing the mandatory athletics day, I’d somehow work my way into participating in the long distance events as I was simply hopeless at sprints events….I mean someone took them out of my Weeties box.

Now retired from competitive marathon swimming 10 years…(and people keep asking me, as early as only yesterday at the pool, “are you still competing Shelley?”)

and… I know I no longer have youth on my side – I am 47yrs young….so if I want to be able to keep living the Champion life that I love with all the passion and purpose like a 20yr old, then I need to do something new.

So if you come into the Manly Surf Club gym on most mornings, you’ll see me there. And you may even hear me complaining to my buddys during my twice-weekly workouts “I can’t lift another thing” or “It’s buuuuuuurning!!!!” This is all getting way too hard”.

If I had my way, I’d continue to swim every day ….and that would be really easy for me to do. I would even continue my lovely beach walks every other day. I’d do the things I was most comfortable with and leave the rest til another day – when I felt like it.

Yet every time I walk into the Manly Surf Club gym, I hear those men’s words ringing in my ears as I struggle and those days when it is all too much and I feel like giving up. ‘C’mon Shell …what are you always telling us….You saved the best one for last…..You’re the Best…Forget the Rest! When the going gets tough…the tough get going!”

Buggar they were listening to me all these years!

But it’s that – that makes all the difference.

And you know what? I would not have it any other way.

So often in life we want the reward but we don’t want to do the extra that will get us there. We want to stay in our comfort zone but we want more as well. When we decide to step out and do ‘just one more’, we begin our journey to the next level.

We each have our own cheering squad - listen to those who want what’s best for you and encourage you to move towards your goals. You may find you can do ‘just one more’ and it’s that which will make all the difference.

Decide today what ‘just one more’ you will commit to and what difference it will make.

“We often don’t know what we’re capable of - until we go beyond what we think we can do”.

Go for Gold!
Cheers Shelley

Only about 3 percent of adults have clear, written goals and I bet Michael Phelps is amongst them.

These people accomplish five or ten times as much as people of equal or better education and ability but who, for whatever reason, have never taken the time to write out exactly what they want.

There is a powerful formula for setting and achieving goals that you can use for the rest of your life.

It consists of seven simple steps. Any one of these steps can double and triple your productivity if you are not currently using it.

1. Decide exactly what you want.
Either decide for yourself or sit down with your boss and discuss your goals and objectives until you are crystal clear about what is expected of you and in what order of priority.

2. Write it down.
Think on paper. When you write down a goal, you crystallize it and give it tangible form. You create something that you can touch and see. On the other hand, a goal or objective that is not in writing is merely a wish or a fantasy. It has no energy behind it.

3. Set a deadline on your goal; set sub deadlines if necessary.
A goal or decision without a deadline has no urgency. It has no real beginning or end. Without a definite deadline, you will naturally procrastinate and get very little done.

4. Make a list
…. of everything that you can think of that you are going to have to do to achieve your goal. As you think of new activities, add them to your list. Keep building your list until it is complete. A list gives you a visual picture of the larger task or objective. It gives you a track to run on.

5. Organize the list into a plan.
Organize your list by priority and sequence. Take a few minutes to decide what you need to do first and what you can do later. With a written goal and an organized plan of action, you will be far more productive and efficient than people who are carrying their goals around in their minds.

6. Take action on your plan immediately.
Do something. Do anything. An average plan vigorously executed is far better than a brilliant plan on which nothing is done.

7. Resolve to do something every single day that moves you toward your major goal.
Build this activity into your daily schedule. You may decide to read a specific number of pages on a key subject. You may call on a specific number of prospects or customers. You may engage in a specific period of physical exercise. Whatever it is, you must never miss a day.

Keep pushing forward. Once you start moving, keep moving. Don’t stop.

Remember I have said that momentum is your secret weapon to achieving your goals.

This decision, this discipline alone, can dramatically increase your speed of goal accomplishment and boost your personal productivity.

Go for gold…your gold!
Cheers Shelley Taylor-Smith

It’s time for your Mid-Year Goal Checkup Part II

What is the secret weapon?

…Momentum

Here is the official definition of momentum:

Momentum: noun 1. force or speed of movement; impetus, as of a physical object or course of events: The car gained momentum going downhill. Her career lost momentum after two unsuccessful films.

It is from the Latin word “Moment”

Momentum is an accumulation of energy powered by speed. It takes motion to cause more motion. It takes action to cause movement.

Everything changes when you have momentum.

If your goals are stagnant, or when you get stuck, create momentum.

Get it moving again.

Take massive action.

Do as much as you can as fast as you can.

And then keep it going.

Your most important job right now is to create momentum on your highest priority Goal starting today.

Make a list of at least 10 things you can do to create momentum towards your #1 Goal.

From that list, determine the order of priority for each activity. Starting today, take action and do at least one thing before you go to bed and then do something tomorrow and the next day and don’t let the momentum stall.

Momentum does not fall into your lap by accident. It is an energy, a movement, a life force that you consciously create. After you get it going, it becomes a powerful force unto itself.

No matter how difficult or challenging something is, it gets easier after you take an action, then another action, and then another. With each subsequent action, progress follows, energy increases, and in time, what was once difficult becomes almost effortless. That’s what momentum can do for you.

With momentum, new opportunities and new life will arise that will propel you forward towards your Goals.

What would happen in your job, your finances, your health, or your relationship if you made a concerted effort to improve in one of those areas? What if you took just a few strategic actions each day to make positive changes?

I’ll tell you what would happen… you would change your life.

In the beginning and at every critical juncture of anything worthwhile, success first requires expending ten units of effort to produce one unit of results. Your momentum will then produce ten units of results with each unit of effort.

For the next 7 days, focus on creating momentum on your #1 Goal and let me know your results.

Go for gold..your gold!
Cheers Shelley Taylor-Smith

The year is more than 50% behind us and if you have not done so yet, now is the time to taken a step back, take a closer look at your progress, or lack of it, and make any necessary adjustments.

If you set some Goals or New Year’s Resolutions in January, only to find them fizzle out, or you have run out of fuel, you’re not alone. Don’t let any discouragement stall your dreams. The good news is that for most Goals, you can start over or pick up where you left off any time you want.

You can accomplish more in the remaining 4 months than you did all last year… IF you tap into the one secret ingredient that is always at your fingertips that you have 100% control of anytime you want.

But before we get to that, we need to quickly reassess your highest priority Goals.

Think of the top 10 Goals you set for 2008. Are they still on your radar? Sometimes we set a Goal at one point in time that later reveals itself to be unimportant. Either we change or our circumstances change and we no longer want that Goal. Other times we set a Goal and simply become distracted or unconsciously sabotage ourselves (this should never happen again if you follow me on a regular basis). So for now, think of 10 Goals that matter in the present.

From your list of 10 Goals, take a minute to identify the ONE Goal you want to set your focus on for the remainder of 2008. You will still work on your other Goals, but we need to pinpoint one Goal that we will commit to giving more time, more attention and more energy to.

This one Goal should be a Goal that will positively impact your life in a big way. I call this the “WOO HOO Factor Goal.” Achieving or progressing with this Goal will make some or all of your other Goals much easier or faster to attain.

Remember this can be a brand new Goal or a Goal that you previously started but did not achieve, but it MUST be your # 1 priority Goal right now. You must have a hunger, burning desire and be 100% committed to or you will never have the juice to follow through day in and day out.

After you have identified your #1 Goal for the remainder of 2008, we are going to focus our attention on one particular factor that can be unleashed to accelerate your progress…

This factor is my secret weapon.

I credit this secret weapon for every great achievement I have ever experienced. It is so powerful, it is easy and best of all, it is free. It can reduce the amount of time it takes to achieve your Goal once you empower it. Everyone has the ability to tap into this powerful force.

What is the secret weapon?

That is coming up next in part 2 of It’s Time for your Mid-Year Checkup…now get cracking on your homework..I mean workout set above…

Go for gold
Cheers Shelley Taylor-Smith