January 2009 - Issue 57 - www.clareevans.co.uk

Welcome to all new subscribers
for 2009.

Hello ,

I hope you had an excellent Christmas and New Year break. There's a new look and feel to the newsletter this month. I hope you'll like it.

I woke up to snow yesterday (which is unusual here on the south coast) and it's pretty chilly here today. Temperatures have plummeted so I'm wrapped up in more layers than an onion and trying not to have the heating blazing away all day.

You can hardly miss all the doom and gloom in the media. Yes, things aren't going well in certain industries and some large businesses have shut their doors for the last time but many of the businesses I've been talking to had their best month ever in December.

I've raised over £50 through the sales of Time Management for Dummies since it's publication in September, which will be going to Cancer Research. For 2009 I'll be selecting a new charity and it's likely to be an African based charity aimed at helping local communities.

There's a special New Year Offer for all newsletter readers on a Time Management Audit Feedback Session. Get £10 off all sessions booked in January. The Audit highlights key areas where you can make improvements to boost your efficiency and increase your productivity - yours for only £35.

To take advantage of this offer before the end of January - request a copy of the audit and then call or email me to book up your session.

As usual, keep in touch with what I'm up to and get extra tips from my blog  http://www.clareevans.blogspot.com or Follow Me on Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/clareevans and keep up-to-date automatically.

Enjoy the rest of this month's newsletter.

Clare

How To Complete Your 'Resolutions'

Well, it is New Year so I can't let January go by without at least mentioning New Year's Resolutions. After all the start of a new year is as good a time as any to review your progress and set fresh targets for the year, especially, as if you want to believe all the hype, it's going to be a tough one.

If you know where you're going you can plan how you're going to get there and at least set off in the right direction.

- By now you've probably made a few resolutions and set a few goals for the year.  No doubt along the lines of lose weight, get fit, earn more money.  Make them specific - how much weight, how fit, how much money.  Give yourself a time frame and set a completion date against each one. 

- Think about what achieving these goals will mean to you.  Not just physically or financially but personally and emotionally.  It's important to imagine how you will actually feel when you've achieved them. The more focused and motivated you are the more likely you are to achieve them.

- Tell someone about them - or at least write them down. Sharing it with a friend, colleague, mentor or coach makes it more likely to happen than just having it as a vague idea in your head.  Word them positively - what are you gaining rather than what you're 'giving up'.

- Be realistic.  Don't aim to run a marathon by March if you've been in training as a couch potato for the last five years.  Don't aim to be a millionaire by the end of the year if you're struggling to pay your credit card each month.

- Now you can decide how you're going to achieve them. Break it down into achievable and realistic steps and develop an action plan to take you from A to B ... and beyond.  Yes, you can run a marathon but you need to be able to run a mile/kilometre first.

- Think about what's going to stop you - what is going to get in the way of you achieving your goals? If you've thought about the challenges and pitfalls you can take steps to avoid them.  Who else will be impacted by your goals - both positively and negatively?  Do you have their support

- Importantly - track your progress - make yourself accountable. If you've got someone keeping tabs or nudging you along, you're far more likely to achieve your goals and stay on track. I use checklists as I find this is a good way of keeping me motivated as I tick off each action.

If 2009 is going to be a tough year, it's even more important to make sure that you take time to make time for what you want to achieve and don't forget to have fun along the way.

You can find more about how to set realistic and achievable goals on www.clareevans.co.uk/articles.htm.

Take time to make time.  Call me to arrange your own one to one session or download the Time Management Audit.

Until next month

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