January 1st is just around the corner - What will you do to make 2010 a better year for yourself?  Here's a fool-proof action plan to help you make changes and actually accomplish things in your life during the next year.  Do this now and you'll be already in motion when 2010 lands.

Whether you realize it or not, we are an accumulation of our habits. From how you get out of bed, how you shower, how you dress, how you shop for food and eat meals, how you exercise, how you walk, sit, and talk, how you respond to the world, how you act in front of others, and how you think; you are living out your habits.

But habits are necessary. Because they typically come naturally and automatically, they free up your mind so you can concentrate on how to survive day to day. You don't have to think about how to drive your car so you can be on the lookout for danger while you are driving. You don't have to think about how to walk so you can concentrate on where you're going.

Unfortunately, habits can also keep you locked in self-destructive patterns, which will limit your success.

This is especially true during stressful periods, like holidays. This is when it's far too easy to let bad habits take over and multiply with every holiday symbol that you see.

So, what's the secret to surviving this holiday season, bring in the new year feeling fantastic—physically and emotionally—and have more confidence in the future?

You'll need to drop those bad habits and develop new ones that are in line with the life you want to live. This will help you to get through the holidays cheerfully and embrace 2010 with high hopes. People don't suddenly appear in the life they want to live, habits determine their outcome!

So ask yourself, what are the habits you have that are keeping you from achieving your goals? Which ones seem to become magnified during the end of the year, setting you up for feeling behind and lousy come January 1st?

Really be honest with yourself. Are you always running late? Do you make promises you can't keep? Do you get enough sleep? Do you make excuses for not eating well and scheduling exercise? Do you plan out your day?

Imagine what your life would be like if all those habits were their productive counterparts. 

What would your life be like if you ate healthy meals, exercised and got enough sleep? What if you saved money, stopped using credit cards and paid cash for everything? What if you stopped procrastinating, overcame your fears, and began seeing positive changes in your life? Would your life be different? I bet it would!

Start Your "Action Plan" Now

Here's a fool-proof action plan to help you make changes and actually accomplish things in your life during the next year.  I know, you thought you wouldn't have to think about something like this until New Year's, but I'd like to help you get moving toward creating more successful habits today, so you're already in motion when 2010 lands.

STEP #1:  Write down 4 new productive habits you could adopt and implement in your life during the next 365 days.  Spend some time thinking about this - don't rush into writing any 4 habits down.  Take a few days if you need to so you can come up with 4 new habits you can commit to implementing in your life... NO MATTER WHAT!  

And don't be vague about how you plan to change your habits or adopt new ones. Spell it out for yourself so you can recognize situations that motivate you to act out your new habit.  Consider selecting one new habit to adopt or change from each of the following four "personal development categories": physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. 

STEP #2:  Decide on your "timeline" for implementation of these 4 new habits.  If you want to be a success this coming year, plan on developing and implementing one new habit every quarter - that is, every three months!  Even if the four new habits you decide on are "hard ones", believe that you can take a whole three months to make each one work.  That means right this instant, you should map out which four you intend to adopt in 2010, and then create a method that will support your new habits.

STEP #3: Start with a plan that works.  Here at Genesis, we believe in a certain philosophy when it comes to the "positioning" exercise and nutrition in your life called the Ideal Performance State (IPS).  In essence, to have balance in just about all aspects of your life, you must have a body that can perform optimally at the "physical level" before you can ever hope to excel in the higher levels of personal development: emotional, mental, and spiritual. Build a good physical foundation through proper exercise and nutrition habits and you will create a personal phenomenon that promotes increased capacity and performance on all three higher levels. 

How do you start this?  By simply striving to become stronger, have more energy, and making the commitment to lose the excess weight you know you need to lose, all of which can happen at Genesis.  Perhaps looking at what you do when you are at Genesis Personal Fitness from this point of view puts a different perspective as to the "why" you do it.

So now, when it comes to selecting which of the 4 new habits to change or adopt first, it should be easy.  If you haven't been exercising and not a Genesis client, maybe its time to schedule an appointment to find out how to start with is. 

If you are a Genesis client and maybe have a few pounds to lose, maybe it's time to join one of our Weight Loss Coaching Programs so you can be sure you successfully achieve your first "level 1" goal of optimizing your "physical" foundation.

STEP #4: Enlist the help of an "accountability partner" who won't let you fail.  This can be a close friend, spouse, or even colleague at work.  However, the best success comes from having someone who will hold you to your commitment who you don't know.  For example, this is why our Weight Loss Coaching Programs are so successful - you are accountable to someone whose sole purpose is to help you succeed and unwilling to let you off the hook when it gets tough.

Some Final Words That WILL Make A Difference!

It's important to make a 100% commitment to each of your new habits, so be specific about the steps that you're willing to take in order to drop an old habit and adopt a new one.

Just developing four new habits a year will dramatically shift your life to be more in line with who you really want to be. And the more in line it becomes, the easier the other habits are to replace because your perspective shifts and you can see more clearly how your old habits aren't serving you anymore.

Start getting ready for 2010 today! Focus on habits that will launch you forward, not back.

Make the decision. Make the commitment. Then watch the new, positive YOU unfold!