The importance of self-respect

Why is self-respect so important?

When you have self-respect, you actually fully love yourself. You love yourself for who you are on the inside and not just because of what you do, what you look like, or what you’re capable of. When you have self-respect, you take pride in who you are and you know that you’re valuable.

On the flipside, without self-respect, it’s difficult to have honesty, confidence, and integrity. Instead, a person without self-respect may feel the emotions of anger, guilt, blame, shame, or regret, and they sport secretive behavior because deep down they feel unworthy. Beyond that, if you can’t respect yourself, how can you respect others and how can others respect you?

Putting Your Needs First

Too many people put the needs of others before their own. Although this is admirable, in order to respect and serve others, you need to meet your own physical and emotional needs first. Meeting your own needs first is an important part of respecting yourself.

Here’s the story of Joan, who realized too late the importance of respecting her own needs:

Joan had a friend that she did everything for. She would always put the needs of her friend before her own. Whenever her friend needed help with something, big or small, Joan would always be there even if she had to rearrange her own schedule.

It worked for a while, but then Joan began to feel that the constant help for her friend was becoming emotionally taxing. It was almost as if Joan became a servant to her friend. She wasn’t Joan; she was just her friend’s “friend.” Even her friend began to think of her that way.

Eventually Joan began to feel like her friend was taking advantage of her and these feelings escalated into resentment. Joan started to make excuses to avoid helping her friend. Now they are no longer friends.

What happened?

Joan was trying to achieve self-respect and thought she could only gain self-respect by putting her friend’s needs before her own. She was trying to prove she deserved respect instead of looking into herself and finding the great things about herself that already deserved respect.

Because she didn’t respect herself, her friend didn’t respect her either.

If Joan respected herself and her own needs, she might have communicated her feelings to her friend and put her own schedule first sometimes. Joan would have felt the confidence to do the things she needed to do for herself in addition to doing things for her friend.

There’s nothing wrong with stepping up for others, but you must have a solid sense of self-respect for yourself first.

Respecting the Mind, Body, and Spirit

You’re a unique human being with strengths and qualities of your own and you need to respect your entire mind, body, and spirit.

You need to respect yourself because you have an inner being that demands your patience, love and respect.

Respect your body because it is the home of your mind and spirit, then harness that spirit and love it because it is who you are.

Loving your body, mind, and spirit is the key to gaining self-respect.  It is then that you can extend yourself out to meet the needs of others.

 

Life Coaching Tips – How to Deal with Disappointment

Everyone faces disappointments in life, both big and small.  It’s important to acknowledge our disappointments and not just ignore them, but how do we do it effectively? The answer lies in learning constructive ways to acknowledge disappointments.

Disappointment can build character and patience if you allow it to. Learning to deal with your disappointments constructively can make you a stronger person in the end.

Coping with Disappointment

The first thing you need to do in learning to deal with disappointment is recognize your old coping strategies. Everybody has them. Do you reach for the pint of ice cream or withdraw into a room all alone? Do you get drunk and try to forget?

Once you recognize that your old strategy isn’t working, it’s time to create a new one.

Here are 5 tips for effectively dealing with your disappointments:

1.      Acknowledge what you’re feeling. You can honestly express the emotions you’re feeling without blaming or punishing others. This is about how you feel about the situation, not others. Articulate your feelings without attacking others. Always be respectful, but don’t be afraid to let them know how you feel.

There isn’t a right or wrong way to feel. Your feelings are valid and if you don’t voice your opinion then you’ll harbour resentment and stress yourself out. Be honest with yourself about how you really feel about the situation.

2.      Put things in perspective. Even small disappointments can seem monumental at first. But once you’ve expressed your hurt, frustration, or anger, take a step back and look at the bigger picture. How much of an effect is this disappointment going to have on you tomorrow, next week, or next year?

Take a deep breath and go for a walk to put your disappointment into perspective. Taking time to reflect and step away from the situation will help calm your nerves so you’ll be better able to handle the disappointment.

3.      Refuse to doubt yourself. Sometimes disappointment can make you feel like a failure. You may wonder why these things happen to you or you may think you were stupid to get your hopes up in the first place. But none of that is the truth. Don’t allow yourself to give in to these negative thoughts!

Disappointment is not unique to you. Everyone has been disappointed at some time in their life. Instead of getting down on yourself, think about what could have been done differently and learn from the experience.

 4.      Look for a solution or compromise. You can’t have your way all the time but sometimes there may be a second option that’s agreeable to each party.

Take a few deep breaths, relax, and look for the “silver lining.” It’s possible to find something positive in almost every situation.

5.      Reevaluate and make changes if necessary. Sometimes when we experience disappointment, it may be a sign that we need to re-examine our priorities. Depending on the degree of disappointment you’re facing, you may need to make minor or major changes to your life.

Learn to be flexible. Refocusing your attention on your new goals will help you forget about your disappointment.

Don’t Give Up

Any person who has had even a small degree of success in life has faced disappointments.

Winners simply don’t quit. They learn from their failures and disappointments and go on to achieve their goals.

You can become your own biggest motivator! Don’t underestimate the power of encouraging yourself by saying, “I can do this. I can make it. I will get through this and become a better person!”

You don’t need to allow disappointment to lower your self-confidence. That’s not to say that you need to gloss over your feeling, but you can simply learn how to deal with your disappointments effectively, then move on to bigger and better things.

 

Life Coaching Tips – The Importance of Self Care

Defining self-care is easy because it’s the opposite of self-sabotage or self-control. To successfully achieve self-care, you must have a self-care plan. It’s through that structured plan that you’re going to be able to properly care for your very being.

Self-care isn’t just about brushing your teeth or combing your hair. Self-care is for the needs within you. Self-care is caring for your soul, your inner self, and your very being.

 Building a Solid Self-Care Plan

A good self-care plan reminds you of what you want to accomplish. After all, you have values, goals, and a purpose in your life. This plan reminds you about what you need to do to take care of you. Using a day planner or making notes to yourself can remind you of your goals and the things you need to do to take care of your body, mind, and soul.

 Your self-care plan gives you a solid foundation for what you want to do and how you can accomplish it.

You should also provide yourself with inspirational quotes and affirmations. This is the spiritual food that keeps you focused on your own personal well being. Not only do you have the reminders of what to do, but you also have little pieces of inspiration around you to remind you of why you’re doing it!

In addition to inspirational quotes, you can hang motivating pictures throughout your home and office. These pictures may be of exotic places you’d like to visit someday, or tranquil images of nature.

Your pictures may be something that you want to attract into your life or may remind you of a positive memory from your past. You can also have a photo of your family to remind you of what’s important to you.

 Your self-care plan should inspire you and remind you of why you want to take care of your body, mind, and spirit.

 Another aspect of your self-care plan is tracking your progress. Let’s say you have a hard time getting motivated to exercise. By keeping a log of your exercise time, you can keep yourself focused on achieving a healthier you.

A food journal is also a good way to track your food choices so you can remind yourself that you need to eat nutritious foods. In addition, you can use a journal to record your mental and emotional health. Write down what’s going on inside of you so you can evaluate your feelings and proactively take care of your mental health.

 Your self-care plan tracks your progress to help you stay on track toward your goals.

You can use these aspects of planning toward anything in your life so you have that solid foundation you need to take care of yourself. Just make sure to take care of the inside as well as the outside.

Creating a Personalized Self-Care Plan

You may need to motivate yourself to initiate your self-care plan. For some, beginning any new task may be daunting. In addition, you’ll want to be sure you can find motivation along the way to help keep you on track.

Ask yourself about what has motivated you in the past. Use this as your motivation toward the things you need to do to take care of yourself.

A good motivator to keep you on track is to have a family member, friend, or spouse hold you accountable. If you slip up in your efforts to proactively take care of yourself, they will let you know so you can renew your focus and get back on course.

It’s important to have some sort of structure in place for successful self-care. You need to take care of yourself before you can take care of anyone else. A good self-care plan will provide you with the vigor, attitude, and energy to enjoy life to its fullest!

 

Life Coaching Tips – Overcoming Procrastination

Procrastinating: it’s something a good number of us tend to do, no matter what the task. We know that putting something off doesn’t help us and it only makes things worse by adding stress, but knowing this only makes us procrastinate more.

How can you stop this cycle, use your time more effectively, and get your tasks done sooner?

Here are 5 simple ways to get up and go and stop putting off things that must be done:

1.      Determine why you delay working on your task. Is it a specific task that you’re putting off, or do you procrastinate everything on your plate? What is it about this task that stops you from doing it?

• Are you scared of failing?

• Do you fear that you’ll fall short of what’s expected of you?

• Are you just lazy?

• Are you resentful of whoever put this obligation upon you?

By evaluating the task, you can better understand what’s holding you back so you can complete the task more efficiently.

2.      Make a plan. When you make a step-by-step plan, you are setting a specific schedule and timeline to complete the task.

 Write this plan down on paper. Writing this list will help you better organize your thoughts and determine the small steps you need to take to accomplish your goals. Give yourself attainable tasks on a daily, weekly or hourly timetable, as it applies to your situation.

 You are less likely to be overwhelmed when you’re faced with small, manageable steps.

3.      Be Realistic. Be realistic about what you can achieve in your plan. Doing so makes each step clearly attainable and you’ll be less likely to put it off. Knowing your limits will make your goals seem easier and less of a mountain to climb.

4.      Just Begin. It sounds simple enough, but few heed this simple tip. Most procrastinators find themselves prone to delaying the start of the task because it seems too overwhelming. Instead, they stress and worry during the final moments before it’s due.

No matter how large or insurmountable the task may seem, beginning with even a small action will build momentum. Simply beginning also tends to put the task into perspective and makes it seem more possible than ever.

5.      Take Breaks. Taking scheduled breaks while working on your task refreshes your body and mind.  If you go for a 10-minute walk or work on a Sudoku puzzle, you’ll feel re-energize and you’ll be in a better frame of mind to forge on.

Breaks, while refreshing, should be taken in moderation; you certainly don’t want to use breaks as an excuse to lapse back into procrastination.

Procrastinating is an habit that many of us fall into. Luckily, this habit can be overcome and if you are prone to procrastination you can become more proactive and productive. Follow these 5 tips, practice them frequently, and with some time and patience you’ll find yourself getting more done, more often.

 

Life Coaching Tips – How to overcome anxiety

Have you been wondering how to overcome anxiety? Anxious thoughts, fears, and worries invade the lives of many people on a daily basis. Chances are they’ve invaded your life as well.

Anxiety is often the result of fears that you may have about uncertain situations, places, and even people in your life.

Most of the time, these fears are based on things that haven’t happened yet. Maybe you worry if you’ll do well in a job interview or whether a new colleague will like you. Those who haven’t experienced anxiety may think it’s foolish to worry about something that hasn’t happened yet. But as you know, these feelings are very real.

If you’ve had it with the stress and anxiety in your life, you can achieve peace, eliminate anxious thoughts and fears, and successfully overcome anxiety.

Here are some tips:

1.      Trust that you’ve got the faith, courage, strength, skill, and support to overcome anything. This is especially true and important when it comes to overcoming anxiety that’s based on unrealistic fears and worries that plague your mind.

A support group of family members or friends can be vital in eliminating anxiety. Talk out your fears with someone who will listen kindly without judging you.

2.      Be true to who you are as a person. Don’t condemn yourself for how you feel. It’s important to understand that you can’t change how you feel, but you can change how you deal with these emotions.

Finding a way to release your emotions is an important element to overcoming anxiety. You can write down your fears and worries in a journal, or even find a support group you can actively participate in.

3.      Remember that there are some things in life that are beyond your control. Many times, the worries you experience are a direct result of the fact that you’re not in control of the people, things, and situations in your life.

The things that are in your control can be managed. Just slow down, take one thing at a time, and focus. This will help to ease some of the discomfort you experience from your anxiety.

4.      Rely on your faith. Attend a church service or other type of religious place of worship. Join a faith-based support group that focuses on anxiety, achieving peace in life, or similar items of interest. This can alleviate a lot of your anxiety.

Many experts praise highly the power of prayer and meditation. Understanding that you can’t control everything and releasing your worries to a higher power can be calming and give you a sense of freedom and relief.

5.      Pursue activities that bring you peace. Whether this is a solitary activity or a group activity, it should be something enjoyable that will remove your anxiety and renew your love of life.

Peace-bringing activities may include a hobby like painting, writing short stories, or doing different types of crafts. You may enroll in spiritual studies, read self-improvement books, or pray.

These are all effective ways to overcome and alleviate anxiety. While many people resort to medications and doctor treatments when they’re seeking ways to overcome anxiety, you can work toward relieving your own anxiety without medication by simply engaging yourself in activities that bring you peace, comfort, and relief.

 

Life Coaching Tips – 5 ways to regain your focus and get back on track

How many times have you gone to bed wondering what you actually accomplished that day? Or have you ever felt like your day was somehow wasted?

To avoid these feelings, you can try a few different methods to get yourself back on track. Rather than bemoaning your wasted time, resolve to regain your focus and get back on task.

Confucius says…

If you chase two rabbits, you catch none.” True, there might be people who are able to multitask and do it relatively well; but more often than not, people who split their attention between two different tasks have a more difficult time completing both tasks well.

Here are five ways to regain your focus and get back on task:

1.      Eliminate the distractions. Get rid of the barriers that are causing you to avoid getting things done – it’s that simple! Forget about checking email every five minutes; those emails will still be there when you complete your task. Make a list of distractions and eliminate!

• Turn off the phone and let voice mail take over.

• Close the blinds in your office.

• Turn off the music if you find yourself singing more than working.

• Simply closing the door to your office can give you more privacy and more focus.

2.      Prioritize your work. Rather than working on projects simultaneously, take one thing at a time, focus on it, and worry about all the other projects later. Ultimately, you’ll get a lot more done and you’ll finish it more quickly. You’ll also be recognized by the high quality that you deliver when you’re free from distractions.

Find a way to prioritize that works best for you. Choose either the project that has the earliest deadline or the one with the least components so you can finish it quickly and get it out of the way. There are pros and cons to both systems so tackle it whichever way works for you.

3.      Tell everyone to respect your time. There are many nice and respectful ways to tell people to back off. If you’re finding yourself in a time crunch and can’t seem to get away from others, consider letting them know that you need time to finish some important tasks. There are a lot of different ways to do it – just make sure you do!

• Set times that you’ll accept phone calls and even visitors. Tell them to contact you by email and then set a regular time to check your email.

• Set business hours during which people can expect you to return their calls or emails.

4.      Set some limitations with your internet access. The internet is wonderful but it can be a huge time waster, especially if you work at a computer all day long. Regain your focus with some self-imposed rules.

First, close all those windows you’re not using. Avoid MySpace or Facebook, quit searching on eBay, and leave messenger alone!

Establish certain times each day to use these fun things and just focus on what you have to do. You’ll quickly accomplish more!

5.      Have confidence in your abilities. This may seem like a really small thing when it comes to focusing and getting back on task, but believing that you can get everything done that you set out to do puts you in a positive frame of mind and you’ll be less distracted with stress and worry.

Have confidence that you can complete each task with ease and believe in your ability to deliver. If you’ll have the confidence, you’re sure to have the focus!

Now that you’ve been introduced to five ways to focus and get back on task, it’s up to you to take action and learn how to focus your thoughts. If you’ve got to get stuff done, follow these steps so you can put yourself – and your goals – first!

 

Life Coaching Tips – The Art of Self-Reflection- 5 Exercises to Get Clear on your Direction in Life

What is it you want to do with your life? How do you think you’re going to make it happen? If you’re not sure, then self-reflection is in order.

Even if you have an idea where you want to go, you may want to consider doing self-reflection exercises to ensure that you remain on the path toward success. When you are on the right path, you can also find peace in your life.

Here are 5 self-reflection exercises that you can use to put things into perspective. These exercises can help you to get clear, relax, and work towards peace in your life:

1.      Compose affirmations. Write a list of at least 50 affirmations. These affirmations should embrace what you want to achieve and what you want to become in your life.

Write them in present tense and be sure to use the word “I” throughout the list. For example, “I am always good at my job.”

It is important to focus on the things that are occurring now that will lead to your future success.

You may hear words in your head such as, “But you messed this up the other day” or “You weren’t as productive a few days ago.” If you are hearing things like this, then banish those negative thoughts. It can take some time to get used to positive thinking, but it’ll be time well-spent.

Repeating your affirmations aloud will enable you confirm your positive thoughts.

2.      Tap into your subconscious mind. Your subconscious mind is where your self-image is stored. All of your attitudes, experiences, beliefs, and values are here. Your subconscious mind is the core of who you are and it’s a very powerful force.

If you go inward and reflect upon what’s inside this storehouse within the mind, you can gain a better sense of self-awareness. Some may call this meditation. Regardless of what you call it, this process helps you to attain a higher level of consciousness.

Better self-awareness can provide you with many answers about yourself and your true beliefs.

3.      Visualize creatively. This is a fun way to self-reflect! Make yourself a box to show your hopes and dreams. Or you can create a vision board. Place pictures and words that represent you and your thoughts into your box or on your board. The more details you include, the better it works!

Imagination is the key and the sky is the limit!

4.      Ask yourself questions. Ask yourself questions about yourself. Write down your questions and your answers. Ask yourself questions about the present and the future and provide yourself with positive answers. You can be creative with your questions because only you know what’s inside of you.

Be sure to structure your questions to include details about your hopes and dreams.

5.      Write and reflect. Buy a journal and write in that journal every single day. Each day, first write down something positive that occurred that day. Next, write down a question for yourself. Don’t answer that question then and there. Reflect on that question and write your answer the next day as a part of your journal entry.

As you can see, self-reflection truly is an art. It involves tapping your inner being and using that to work out what it is you really want. In time, your reflections will enable you to achieve the peace and serenity you deserve.  

 

Life Coaching Tips – Self-Motivation Strategies – How to Get Motivated, Quickly and Easily

Getting the motivation to do something – whether it’s starting a business or to pursuing  your dream career -  can begin easily enough, but few can sustain the motivation to follow-through consistently.

There’s always too much to do. The task is too big. Tomorrow’s a better day to get started. Right? There are a million reasons we don’t act, but almost always the consequences of our inaction are guilt and regret.

You’ll be glad to discover that you can stop that vicious cycle of inaction and regret and become the self-motivated person you always wanted to be!

Here are some excellent tips on how to motivate yourself, even when you’ve hit a setback, are in a slump, or haven’t even begun to figure out what you want from life:

1.      Focus. Focus on just one goal at a time. Even if you’re working toward improving several areas of your life, focus on each goal separately. This helps to keep you from feeling overwhelmed and prevents you from giving up before you get started. Flush out everything else from your mind, and keep your energies focused on the one goal.

Develop a tunnel vision focus to tune out unimportant tasks and distractions.

2.      Envision results. Remembering why you’re inspired in the first place will refresh your motivation towards attaining your goal.

Think of how your life will be changed and improved once you achieve this goal.

3.      Start small. Determine the tasks necessary to reach your goal. Now divide these tasks into a series of smaller tasks. Continue this process until you’ve obtained tasks that you know you can accomplish. It’s like bite-size chunks. When the chunks are small enough, you know you won’t be biting off more than you can chew at one time!

Attaining many small goals on your way to the big goal keeps you happy and motivated with constant successes.

4.      Network. Talk to friends, coworkers, and experts in the area you seek to master. Get them to share tips, advice and experiences they’ve had that can help you to reach your goal. Surrounding yourself with people who have the same goals – or have already attained them – will inspire you to act.

5.      Tell people about your goals. By telling people about your goal, you are making a pact that you will follow-through. Tell your friends, family and coworkers to energize your motivation.

6.      Dedicate daily time. Dedicate a certain amount of time each day specifically to furthering this goal. Investing time in attaining your goal every day will keep it in your mind as positive action.

Positive action propels success and diminishes doubts and regret.

7.      Research. Research industry or topic books, blogs and forums.  Anything you do to make yourself more knowledgeable about your goal can inspire you to act.

8.      Reward yourself. When you accomplish a step or a positive outcome in your goal plan, reward yourself with a nice dinner or something that will make you feel special.

9.      Learn from your mistakes. First, recognize that you will make mistakes and accept this. Second, take the opportunity to learn what to do (or not to do) the next time.

Analyzing how to fix the error will push you forward with greater confidence.

10.  Replace negativity with positive thoughts and actions. We all encounter those negative thoughts that tell us to give up, but knowing how to counteract them will keep you on track toward your goal. Your mindset and attitude determine the positive or negative outcome of any situation. Keep those positive thoughts and actions coming and success will surely follow.

Negativity is not reality unless you make it so.

Self-motivation begins with the end in mind, and the only person who can get you there is you. By using this combination of tips and techniques, you can motivate yourself to take action toward your goals. You’ll be proud of yourself for doing something positive to make your life better. Plus, you’ll develop a mindset that will serve you well into the future for achieving more and more of what you want out of life.

 

Life Coaching Tips – Be SMART When Making Your New Year’s Resolution

Have you been wondering how you can be SMART when making your New Year’s resolution? Despite the fact that more New Year’s resolutions are broken each year than any other goal, we still look forward to opening that brand new calendar and imagining the possibilities that lie ahead for the New Year.

If you plan on meeting the challenge of making a New Year’s resolution, you may as well ensure that you make SMART choices, right?

SMART is an acronym for several different stages of the goal setting process. If you’re planning to make a New Year’s resolution, it’s important to become familiar with what each letter stands for so that you can develop achievable resolutions.

The following represents SMART goals, broken down into an easy to understand manner:

1.      Specific. The first step to creating a SMART New Year’s resolution is to be Specific. You can’t just say “I want to lose weight” – that’s a very general statement with no real meaning. Try saying “I want to lose ten pounds.” That’s more specific.

Whatever your specific goal is, write it down and post it where you will be reminded everyday.

2.      Measurable. The next step is to make sure that the goal is Measurable. When we set goals, it’s important that we’re able to measure levels of our achievement. By measuring, we can keep track of our progress and feel more motivated to move toward our final goal.

Make a chart or keep a journal to track your successes and achievements. Seeing a visual guide will help motivate you, especially during tough days.

3.      Attainable. Set goals that you know you can achieve, or that are Attainable for you. If you set a goal of losing one hundred pounds, for example, this is not attainable for a short-term goal, and you’ll soon lose confidence. However, one pound a week is certainly an attainable goal.

If you have a very large goal, such as getting out of debt or losing a large amount of weight, break that large goal into much smaller goals or steps. Achieving a small goal every week will keep you determined to work harder and smarter.

4.      Realistic. The next aspect to the SMART New Year’s resolution system is that your goal must also be Realistic. For example, setting a goal to win the Lottery is not particularly realistic. It’s possible, but not probable. Also, it’s not something you have any control over.

For maximum success and continued motivation, choose goals that are something you can realistically expect to accomplish, even if you need to divide the final goal into smaller attainable steps.

5.      Timely. The last aspect of the SMART system is Timely. When setting a New Year’s resolution, you’re much more likely to succeed if there’s a time frame associated with the resolution. You may give yourself a month, six months, or the whole year – the choice is yours. The most important thing is that you take the time to set an end date.

Once you set a final deadline, work backwards and determine the deadlines of your smaller goals. Pacing yourself throughout the year is more beneficial and less stressful than saving all the work for the last month before your final deadline.

Here are some common unfocused New Year’s resolutions and tips on how to turn them around into SMART resolutions that can bring you results:

 1.      Losing weight. How many of us make the resolution to “get in shape” or to simply “lose weight?” This isn’t a specific goal, nor does it contain any sort of measurable timeline in which to perform the task.

A better solution would be to say, “I want to lose _____ pounds by _____ (date). I will do this by following these steps: (change of diet, exercise plan, etc.).” 

A specific goal establishes what you want to accomplish, by what time, identifies requirements and constraints, and lists benefits of reaching that goal.

2.      Spending more time with family. Another common New Year’s resolution is to spend more time with family and friends. Again, you need to have a plan to do this. Simply stating that you will spend more time with your family won’t make it happen. This may not even be a very attainable goal if you live far away from your family or can’t give up time at the office.

Look at your schedule, evaluate your priorities, and make the necessary changes to free up the time you’ll need to spend the extra hours with your family.
 

Establish exactly how many extra hours you need to make this happen. What will have to be rearranged? These are decisions you need to make to accomplish your goal.

3.      Quitting smoking. The average smoker tries to quit at least 4 times before he actually kicks the habit. Why? Because it’s easy to get discouraged when you try one method and it doesn’t work. You need to have numerous back-up plans because one product or method doesn’t work for everyone.

Make sure the goals you set are realistic. Don’t expect to stop smoking in a week or maybe even a month. You’ll only become disheartened if you fail.

Set reasonable goals such as, “By ___ (date) I will only smoke ____ cigarettes a day.” Slowly become less dependent on them until you reach your goal.

4.      Getting out of debt. This is a resolution that requires much planning and usually involves a change of lifestyle. If you’re living in a cycle of debt, you need to plan a strategy to cut your spending dramatically, as well as pay off the debt you already have.

Set specific goals such as “I will have ____ (amount) paid off by _____ (date). I will do this by cutting ____ (amount) from my spending each week.” Without a reasonable timeline in place, you’ll slip back into your old habits.

If your total amount of debt is large, break the debt down into smaller, more attainable goals. Pay off one credit card at a time and take pride when you get that final statement with a zero balance. Also consider talking to a financial advisor who can help you set a reasonable plan for you to follow.

Making New Year’s resolutions is very easy but those resolutions made without a clear plan in mind are prone to failure. It takes a little work to ensure that the resolutions you set are SMART. However, the SMART method can also ensure your success with an achievable plan! And that makes all the difference.