Sadly, sometimes it does not quite work out like that. You might never have had a driving desire as a child, or maybe something prevented you from making it happen, or you may have had to give it up for some reason. I know a young man who longed to be an airline pilot, and the first chance he got, he trained and flew airbuses commercially for ten years until he was grounded by ill-health. I had always wanted to be a doctor, but was not able to achieve the marks necessary to be accepted into medical school. Even today, I carry a sadness that I could not do what I longed to do and in the process make a difference in people's lives.

I often meet people who have no idea what they want to do, or have not been able to 'make it happen' for themselves and I like to encourage them to take responsibility for seeking out that 'fire in the belly', that hidden desire or dream that will have them getting up on Monday morning and living the life that they were created for.

For myself personally, I had to dig a bit deeper to find out what I wanted to achieve as a doctor, and create new outlets for those dreams. My love of all things medical has always stayed with me and I love learning about diseases, treatments and ground-breaking discoveries that affect the human body. I have always marvelled at the way we are created, and how amazing our body is at healing itself. This has prompted me to understand the effect of healthy eating, gourmet food, and supplementation to maintain, and improve health.

I am a problem solver and I love to come up with solutions. That can work well in medicine, and in so many different areas of life. It is the ability to believe there is an answer out there, and I long to find it. I have discovered over the years that people don't always want someone else solving their problems, and the right solution for me is not necessarily the right solution for you. I have also discovered that I can help people as a business coach by encouraging them to find their own solutions, and I am always amazed at how often people come up with a solution I had not imagined.

And most important to me is my desire to make a positive difference in other people's lives through the use of my strengths and abilities. That can be achieved through medicine, and also through coaching; listening; encouraging others; donating time, money and knowledge to projects that I consider important; and by living my life in the best way I can.

So what about you? Are you living your dream? Or waiting for it to happen? Or even trying to figure out what your dream is? Do you bounce out of bed on Monday morning? Or do you wonder why you bother?

Have a wonder-filled day.

New Year's Resolutions are not only for the grownups. Children are capable of setting goals, and learning the skills needed to do this. I have written a Squidoo lens to assist parents to help their children to create their own New year's Resolutions. You can find this article at New Year's Resolutions -Worksheet For Kids.

You can also check out my blog entry for more ideas about writing and achieving resolutions for adults. You could use these ideas when working with your child, or pass the article on to your child if they are in their teens.

To pull it all together I have put together FREE worksheet for children to plan their New Year's Resolutions.

Whoever is doing the “resoluting” come and share your stories, successes and failures, and other ideas with us all.

And to all my readers,

Have a Wonderful New Year.

The New Year has long been considered a time to turn over a new leaf, make changes and set goals. I remember deciding at the beginning of every school year in early February that I was going to do all my homework, keep my books tidy and pay attention in class. Well that worked until about March and then it was downhill all the way from there.

Fortunately, I have learned that there is a process and a mindset in achieving dreams. Knowing how to do this enabled Warren Buffet to make his billions, Oprah to become Oprah, and Tony Robbins to be able to empower the whole world to find their passion, and YOU to succeed in your New Year's Resolutions.

Even if you do not sit down and write a list each year, you have probably muttered something about quitting smoking, or getting fit. When you choose a resolution, do you expect it to work, or hope it works this time? Or wonder why you even bother? If you have not had any success before now, it makes sense that you would not have any faith in writing a list, or your ability to make changes. But maybe the problem is not with your will power, or your ability, but in the process, and by making some changes, you could have a very different result. Tony Robbins talks about his experience learning golf. He became very frustrated as he kept hitting the ball in the wrong direction, but was amazed when his instructor said that he was only millimetres away from hitting the ball correctly. Tony took this idea, and realized that the difference between success and failure can be very small and require only tiny adjustments to get the result you want.

So how do you get results from your New Year Resolutions?

Start by writing a list of changes, dreams or goals that you would like to achieve. Don't worry too much about reality at this point, but include some big, and small items.

Next, go through this list and say the following “I want to (name your first resolution) because (give your reason why). Go through the whole list, and record your reasons why.

When you have finished, go back through the list, and cross off every item where your reason is, or is similar to, “because I should”, or “I have to”.

Hopefully, you will still have one or two items left on your list to work with! :)

If your “because...” is “I should” that reason would not be powerful enough to motivate you to stick with the resolution until you have succeeded. Your reasons need to be clear, very important to you, and to have strong emotional content for why you want to succeed. “I should” would give you a 1 on an 1-10 emotional scale. So now you need to look at your remaining items, and find out how many of them have reasons that would score a 10. An example of a 10 for a person who wants to buy a house, could be “ I have met the girl of my dreams and we are getting married. We both want to have children, and I want to provide a secure home in a safe environment. I do not want to have to move because the landlord has sold the house. As it will be harder to save money after the children are born I want to buy now while we have fewer financial commitments.” That beats “I should” any day.

At this point, you need to close your eyes and “see” your resolution completed and successful. Picture it being 31 December, 2010. Note where you are, what the weather is like, see your successful resolution. What does it look like? What does it smell like? What does it feel like? What does it sound like? Remember the reasons why you have chosen to achieve it. Know that those reasons will have been assisted or satisfied also.

Write out a clear description of your resolution. How will you know you have succeeded? What had to be done to be successful? For example, if you wanted to save up a deposit for a house, how much would you like to have in the bank in one year? How will you know you have succeeded?

Think about the last thing you did to complete your resolution. Write it down, and plan what you would have to do every week to reach your goal. If you use the deposit example, you would divide the amount by 52 to work out how much you need to bank each week. Do you have that amount of money available already, or what is it being spent on? Write a budget, and understand where your money is currently going. What could go wrong, and stop you achieving your goal? How can you prevent that happening?

Come back to the present, and take an action that starts the process to achieving your goal. For example, if you were saving a deposit, you could open a high interest savings account and start an automatic payment. As the year goes on, you will face challenges to your resolution. Most, if not all your challenges, will probably not score a 10, so your list of reasons, can be used to overcome obstacles which will occur along the way.

When you face an obstacle, review your reasons and remind yourself why this resolution is so important. Congratulate yourself on your success so far, accept that everyone faces challenges and that you will survive. Do not criticize yourself as it weakens your resolve. We all get things wrong sometimes, and that only matters if you give yourself permission to quit. Instead bring your focus back to your success. The skills you learn overcoming the difficulties, prepare you for bigger achievements.

You will face obstacles, but with planning, you could find that the whole process becomes smooth sailing. Your commitment and pride in your success, could encourage you to make this the first of many successful projects in the future.

I would like to wish you the very best in 2010. I would love to hear from you with any questions, or resolutions you have chosen. Come back during the year and give us an update, and encourage others to keep going.

From my family to yours, have a wonderful New Year.

Gail was found to have cerebral palsy at a very young age, and has been confined to a wheelchair since the age of eleven. When she was young it was still common practice to be put into a home for disabled and left there.

Through determination, she has been able to live in her own home, and have her own personal space, where she has her favorite possessions and lifestyle. Her disability does mean that she does not have the dexterity that we have, and she is very reliant on the help of other people to take part in many of the activities that we take for granted.

Gail is one of many people who need the assistance through physical help, financial help, and the use of technology, not to mention support and understanding, to access the world in so many ways that we take for granted. Gail is also one of many people who make me thank God for my health and lack of barriers to participating fully in society.

I have written a story about one of Gail's expeditions, and would like to share it with you. You can find this story at http://tinyurl.com/y8nwsm2  Please read the story. If you feel inspired, please consider making a donation, even if it is only a few dollars. Every little bit counts. 

The link I have given above offers a secure site to donate.

Have a wonderful day.

You could be tempted to skip this article. Maybe you don't believe in God. You certainly don't want me to start a religious discussion. And I do not want to start one either. So why have I chosen to include spiritual health as an important part of an extraordinary life?

I consider we all have a spiritual component to our lives. That component could be renamed as our own unique “essence”. It is the part of us that gives us faith and hope. The part that requires that we have meaning and purpose in our own life. It explains why you can have both a missionary and a humanitarian with no belief in God, going to a third-world country to provide aid.

Whatever your belief in a Higher Power consists of, there is a need within yourself to justify your existence, or make your mark, make a difference, have your say, or get the best out of your life. Some people try to find the meaning by become a follower of Christ, or Buddha and receive guidance and support through this membership. Others declare themselves Atheists, but consider that the world will only survive if we all work for the greater good.

Your spiritual self also guides you through your conscience, and your moral values. Instead of becoming preachy, I prefer to explain it in terms of whether your actions help or hinder your progress to becoming the person you want to be, or doing the things you want to achieve. An example of this is the urge to point out that downloading movies on internet is illegal and that it is stealing. But it might make better sense to some people to remind them that their internet provider could have a system in place to recognize who is downloading movies, and that movie makers are now starting to charge people who are downloading movies. Can you achieve the life you dream of, if you are fined or even imprisoned? If you avoid paying tax, will you have peace of mind, or will you spend your life waiting for the Tax Department to knock on your door?

I have found that if I am working within my strengths, having a balanced life, finding and living the purpose of my life, and not sabotaging it through unwise actions, I have a real sense of fulfilment in my day to day living, and I run on a feeling of satisfaction that could be described as a pilot light that energises my activities. I use that feeling as a guide that I am on track, and I also use it to provide the energy to achieve more great results.

Something else to consider is having fun and enjoyment in your life. You may not be a person who can party every Friday and Saturday night, but you do need to have some light relief and pleasurable activities in your life. If you are constantly using your brain for similar activities you can find you become stressed and less productive. One piece of advice that I have come across a number of times is to regularly take breaks, have time out, have short holidays. There are two reasons for having breaks. The first is the fact that if you are not focused on your daily work and activities, you use your mind differently, and get away from the repetitive activities. This can allow for creative thinking, and you could come back home with new ideas, or solutions for problems. The second benefit is how much more energised you feel when you come back to your daily work, especially if you are doing a job you love.

I want to introduce you to some ladies who have created something very special by sharing their talent with the world. These ladies found their calling and the world loved them.  Watch and enjoy.

Have a wonder-filled day.

Living a life that uses your strengths and talents, and is working for you plays a huge part in reducing stress in your life. Stress can be a sign that something is not working properly, but no-one is totally stress free. Stress becomes a real problem when it is chronic, and affects your health, your relationships, and your day to day living. If you are suffering from ongoing stress, it needs to be dealt with and the source identified. Sometimes the answer is making some life changes, or the change may need to be in your attitude and response to life's challenges.

Picture your perfect life. Imagine how you feel as you go about your day, you have achieved your major goals and are living your life as you want to. You will probably be aware of a feeling of real satisfaction, energised by living as you dream.

Now imagine you are living the opposite of your perfect life. How does that feel? Exhausting as you force yourself to do things you do not enjoy? Boring? Everything a chore? If you are feeling like this, instead of getting dragged down by how you are feeling, consider whether you are getting a sign that you need to make some changes.

Mental illness can create a major barrier to finding and taking part in activities that you love. Participation in postive uplifting activities is even more important, to avoid creating extra stress and isolation. Focus on overall wellness including medication, extra supplementation if necessary, therapy, and keeping physically fit and healthy. Do not decide you cannot have an extraordinary life, but you will need to be sure you have clear goals for maintaining your mental health issues.

The world has been blessed with some very gifted individuals who have achieved greatness while living with mental illness. These people include Abraham Lincoln, Beethoven, Patty Duke, and Spike Milligan. The world has also made it very difficult for people who have a mental illness. Caring for your overall health and having good support systems need to be top priority, and could be the most important goal you have as periods of illness could have a huge effect on your other goals.

Your psychological health and living a life you enjoy are closely linked. If one is not working properly, the other one is often affected as well. Working out which is the cause and which is the effect and making changes will be required to get back on track. It may be simple to change, but sometimes there are a number of factors that will all need to be worked through. A good support system can make this process easier to manage.

Have a wonderful day.

Life will always be more fun when your health is good. Right now, you could be in perfect health, or your health may be the reason you are looking at making some changes. Whichever one is correct for you, you need to include your physical health as one of you goals to achieve your exceptional life.

As you make changes in your life, it can raise issues that were not obvious previously. More money can mean more opportunities to eat and drink out, buy big boys toys, do some retail therapy, and lose sight of the bigger picture. It is important to make adjustments as your lifestyle changes, to maintain or improve your health as your finances improve. It is a little pointless arriving at your dreams, 50 kilos overweight and drop dead from a heart attack brought on by bad living.

Do you know your family medical history? If you do, do you have a medical condition such as diabetes, that you expect to get because other family members already have it? If you have talked to people with diabetes, you will quickly have realized that their lives are full of controling the diabetes, testing blood sugar levels, not having cakes, knowing they should be losing weight (but not always succeeding), and knowing that their health will probably deteriorate with the threat of blindness and amputation. How bad does that sound?

So lets back up and CHANGE THE FOCUS. To achieve dreams, it is important to set goals, and focus on the goals. If focus is important to achieve goals, and you have told yourself that you will inherit diabetes, and its consequences, because that is how it is, how likely are you to develop diabetes?

Where should your focus be? Prevention is always better than a cure, so if you do not have diabetes, you are in the best position to make a change. Your focus should be on having a healthy body, eating well, keeping fit, and monitoring your health through medical checkups. There is nothing to say that you are 100% guaranteed to get diabetes, except your behaviours and your focus. Learn about healthy living and treasure your good health.

But what if you are looking at changes because you have health problems? Changing your focus is very important to improve your health. You may already be making allowances for your health and carrying out medical procedures. Because of your current health, you cannot give up taking the medical steps necessary to assist your current health. But you do need to set goals for improving your health. You need to assist your body to become as healthy as it can become. And you have to give it time. Your body has probably had years getting to the condition it is currently in. It will not fix itself overnight.

Chosing to eat healthily is always going to be better than forcing yourself to follow a diet because your dietician has told you to. Care for your body because you have chosen to. I have been losing weight and getting fitter, and now finally I have found the will to choose healthy foods because I desire a healthy body and want to fit into the clothes I grew out of. Previously, I had felt dictated to by the diet plan I was following, and started to rebel. I was dieting because I thought I should. I now follow a plan that I can use for the rest of my life, and does not have forbidden foods and rules I must follow. I choose the food and I will be rewarded by the choices.

Achieving a healthy body brings its own reward, and allows you to participate more fully in what the world has to offer. Increased income makes it more affordable to improve and maintain your health through exercise enhanced by a personal trainer, high quality food, quality supplementation and good quality housing. It is now possible to have DNA testing to identify potential health problems, and health checks to help pick up any problems in their beginning stages to allow for early intervention. Your choices will have a big impact on whether you live long and whether you live well.

Have a wonderful day.

Whatever stage you are at, family and friends play a significant part in your life. Deciding to make changes, especially large ones, can cause a ripple through those who are close to you. If you are questioning your life, your attitudes and your beliefs, you can also start to feel dissatisfied with your current relationships.

Remember that you are the one who is changing, not your family and friends. You could find resistance and disbelief at your plans. Some will not want the status quo to change, others may also be dissatisfied with their lives, but not want to deal with the issues. If you are young and single it could be a lot easier to make changes as families expect young people to be deciding their future, but if you have a spouse and children, your family could become very afraid of you announcing a complete change of lifestyle.

As you make changes, you may be meeting new people with similar interests, and a different mindset to ople you have known up to this point. You will need to communicate with your family and friends about your intentions, but you will need to approach different people in different ways. Some will be supportive, some will not understand what you are telling them, and some may even try to change your mind or even sabotage what you are doing. You will need to tread carefully with your family while you test the waters, and make plans. Your wife may be totally opposed to you quitting your accountancy job and taking up full time base jumping, but she could still be very aware of your dissatisfaction with your situation and understand your need to make changes. I used to live in Hong Kong in a high rise building. There was very little grass area, and I spent a lot of time in double-decker buses, on congested roads. I dreamed of becoming self-sufficient on a small farmlet, in the countryside where the only noises were animals and birds. In reality, that dream was a reaction to the busyness of the concrete jungle. I now live on the outskirts of a city, and can hear the country sounds and see the mountains, and that is perfect for me. I would have been a very bad small time farmer.

Your dreams are most clear to you. They are your dreams, you can see them. Think carefully about sharing them with everyone, especially at the beginning when they are new. Others who do not share the enthusiasm could easily knock your confidence and have you doubting yourself. Start making changes, try and find a mentor or support person who has done something similar to what you are planning. Try to avoid being isolated as it is easier to doubt yourself if you do not have support and encouragement from people you trust.

Do not allow your family to stop you making changes. This is your life, if you want your best life, follow your dreams, be patient but firm, explain it to the important people. Encourage them to do the same. Paint them a picture, help them see their dreams. If they are resistant ask them why they are they so against it. It could be relevant. If you respect their feelings and take them into account you could end up with better communication with your family, and get some supporters, and some new ideas.

Friends and family will continue to be a part of your new life. You may need to set goals around maintaining and growing your relationships to reach other goals. As you make changes, look at what you are teaching your children.

Consider teaching your children differently, allow them to dream. Encourage them when they have ideas. Be sure to include your family and relationships as part of your goals. Have quality time with your family and make it clear to them that when you are with them, you are in the only place you want to be.

Have a wonderful day.

What is important to you – living with passion, making a difference, having the most fun, breaking a record, beating your own limits, justice, making something work, creating something, building something, designing something. What are you best at? What do you feel driven to do?

It is important that you do that. I want to know that my meal at the restaurant is cooked by a person who loves to cook. I want my home designed by a person who loves creating beautiful usable living areas. Your career, or daily occupation is where you can use your skills and abilities, raise your children, feed the world, make your own and other peoples' dreams come true, make people well, create beautiful clothing, keep your city clean and so much more.

Unfortunately, career and finance become linked together because you need money, and you work to get that money. That fact can affect your choice of career as you can get caught between wanting a high income, and wanting a satisfying career. In coming up with a solution to make your career preference and financial needs work, consider looking at passive income, or a hobby or volunteer position to achieve your dreams.

Have a look through my blog entries in the “Who Am I” section. Get to know yourself, find out what type of careers other people have chosen. Don't be too hard on yourself if you do not think you have any obvious talents such as a sport, or being able to sing or dance. Being kind, believing in justice, or having good listening skills are just as important. Work experience, or a small part time job can give you the chance to get some hands on experience. When I was 17 I read through a college prospectus and found myself attracted to a political science course. We did not have any politicians in my family, and I had never met any, so I decided that I was wasting my time. Twenty years later, I found myself in a job where I was regularly contacting politicians, and was involved in social policy and law changes. If I had listened to myself when I was young, my life could have been very different. But not necessarily any better, or worse!

Don't think of your working life as simply a way to make money. You will be spending a large proportion of your life working. Be sure you are doing something that will reflect who you are as a person.

Have a wonderful day.

Such a big subject and I don't have any chance of solving your money problems. You have seen more than enough information on the evening news, and every five minutes outside that, about the financial state that the world is in currently.

If you have watched Oprah, or Dr Phil, or flicked through any magazines in the local bookshop, you will very quickly have seen that people are getting  themselves into major financial difficulties by living beyond their means, falling into the trap of having multiple credit cards, and borrowing money to buy luxuries.

If you have created your dream list, you should be clear about how much money you want in your life, and how important money is to you. Even if you decide money is not important to you, you still need to pay for your essential daily expenses, medical care and taxes. You will need to be able to resource your dreams in some way, if you want to achieve them.

Here are a few pointers for you to consider when setting goals in relation to your finances.

• It is extremely easy to borrow money, or get credit these days. That was not common practice twenty years ago. Companies who lend you money are in business, and their goal is to make money out of your borrowing. If they are making money, you are losing money. Every cent that you pay in interest is money that you cannot use to fulfil your dreams.

• Be very clear about your financial goals. Do not allow other people to compromise your financial situation. Do not feel pressured into having an expensive car, or holiday simply because your friends and neighbours all have them. They do not have the same goals and dreams that you have.

• Get financial advice, preferably before you get into difficulty, but make it a priority if you are in debt. Learn how to budget and manage your finances to enable you to achieve your dreams. Do not get into the habit of borrowing from family and friends, or allow them to borrow from you. Be responsible for your own finances, and expect others to do the same.

• Work out if your income is going to be able to finance your dreams. Look at making extra income through investing, or residual or passive income.

• Look carefully through your dreams and work out how much they will cost you. You could be surprised to find that you could start some of them straight away, as they are either low cost or free.

• Look at finance alternatives.Work out what part of the dream is the 'must-have'. It may present itself in a different package. You could achieve it through being a volunteer, through a government grant, a scholarship, or getting a job in a certain business or industry. Be inventive and resourceful.

• Money, how you earn it, how much you make, and how you use it can highlight barriers that you may not have been aware of previously. If you want to earn a lot of money, your low-income background could result in doubt, guilt, bad spending habits and self sabotage. Face these issues, get advice or counselling, spend time with people who are successful in the areas you want to be successful in, and review your attitudes, learn the language, and focus on the good that can be gained by your improved financial situation.

• Develop the right mindset for the person you are becoming. Picture yourself succeeding in your financial goals. See them as if they have already happened. “I am driving my new car, the sun is shining... “ Get used to the feeling and get comfortable being in that place.

Have a wonderful day.