I love new beginnings. Whether it's tender green sprouts that emerge from the warming earth or the potential of new ideas planted in winter dreaming, there's something powerfully simple yet profound in setting new intentions at this time of year.

Even though the ground is frozen and the warmth of spring is months away, there's no better time then now to plant the annual seeds of your entrepreneurial dreams.

Traditionally, this intention setting time of year is marked by New Year Resolutions. It's the time where well-meaning people declare the changes they desire and set the goals for the coming year. Great concept, but you and I know all too well that even the best resolutions fade and are forgotten long before the groundhog sees his shadow.

In fact, forget resolutions, they don't work if you don't connect them to the root of what can truly effect change -- your values and your inspiration. Your values serve as a backdrop to everything you do in both your business and personal life. You're inspiration is the real reason you get out of bed every morning.

Once you reconnect with these motivators, you can more easily roll up your entrepreneurial sleeves to envision the steps that will actualize your dreams. Let me say it another way -- In order to make you resolutions effective - reconnect with your essential values and inspiration in order to lay the pathways that will carry your goals. Once the way is paved, your goal setting will be meaningful and you'll have an excellent shot at being successful.

Do you know what you core values and sources of inspiration are? Can you imagine the progress you can make with this simple yet powerful shift in awareness?

Take a leap and accept this important invitation to reconnect with your roots even though life is busy, and you're recovering from the post holiday coma. It's simple, but not necessarily easy. Make some time and quiet space, away from all the distractions, and invest in your life and business. Start with an hour.

Here's how I do it. I block off time in my calendar for an annual date with the CEO of my business - me. I go to my favorite coffee shop, order a caramel latte and settle in with a pen and paper.

I start by listing all the wins of the past year and everything I am grateful for. For example, one of my wins for last year was the successful completion of a yearlong contract to help a group of five entrepreneurs grow their businesses. It was an amazing experience, gratifying for me to witness their collective success and tangibly valuable to them as they all experienced growth in their businesses.

Then I ask myself, what are some of the deepest values and principles I subscribe to that made those wins possible. What values did I engage in so I could effectively show up and provide my services to them? I make a list: commitment, integrity, warmth, and generosity, to name a few. Then I sit with that list until I feel --all the way to my core - the impact of how important those values are to me.

If I want to feel more of that good feeling I begin to visualize next year and what potential opportunities I want to create to experience. Before I know it, I have a list of goals and intentions I'm excited about and I'm flying out the coffee shop door ready to get to work.

Goal setting and resolutions are an important part of growth and development both personally and professionally for entrepreneurs. Amp them up by identifying the underlying values and inspirations that will make this year the most successful year ever. I'll see you at the coffee shop.

It's YOUR life ...imagine the possibilities!

  back to top

Radical Acceptance Embracing Your life With The Heart Of A Buddha by Tara Brach. "Something's wrong with me" is the painful and profoundly insidious belief that echoes in the minds of most humans I've encountered. In this illuminating and beautiful book, Tara Brach, with great clarity, teaches that this suffering comes from a root of self-judgment and lack of acceptance. This book offers practical guidance and exercises to help us live more fully and peacefully. It's a great time of year for self reflection and gentle work on our deeper spirals of personal growth.

  back to top