It's that time of year again where we all make those resolutions but most of us seem unable to see them through to fruition. Here are a few tips to help you achieve the promises you make to yourself:

1) Be as specific as you can with your goal - Instead of saying that you want to lose weight, tell yourself how much you want to lose. If you want to get fit set yourself a target of fitness i.e. to run a certain distance in a certain time or bench press a certain weight for however many reps. If you want a better job or promotion, what exactly do you want to do?

2) Set a goal time - Set yourself a target for when you want to reach your goal or if you choose to stop something immediately, say stop smoking, book in dates when you will treat yourself for keeping your commitment i.e. night out, spa weekend, shopping etc. in a weeks time, months time or six months time.

3) Break the target goal down in to things you can do daily - stop taking sugar with your drinks, get of a bus stop earlier, use the stairs instead of the lift, reduce your portion size & have fruit for a pudding etc. It makes it much easier to get in the habit of doing one or two small things daily and before you know it the weight will be off or you would have stopped smoking for a month or two.

I wish you all the best in your endeavours and hope that many of you will also set a goal of achieving peace of mind. This is something that many people fail to even realise exists but it makes for a happy, healthy life. Remember that the past is the past. It doesn't matter how many times you've tried and failed, all that matters is what you do next and that you do your best. Fall down 8 times, get up 9.

Peace of mind is something that can at first seem hard to achieve but it must be worked at. Very often we are hurt by the words and actions of others, sometimes by the people we love the most, but harbouring negative thoughts or emotions about anyone else hurts us, not the offender.

I absolutely practise what I preach and will be making sure that tomorrow I make every possible effort to live with love and joy in my heart, to forgive all those I want/need to forgive and just be happy, not just tomorrow but every day.

Wishing every one of you reading this that your heart be filled with love, joy, happiness and that you find peace of mind, and if you want a hand doing that, come see me!

Happy New Year.

Dave.