A few years ago the Learning Annex asked me to teach another class on procrastination. I remember thinking that it was a paradox and contradiction for anyone to teach a procrastination class. How could I get a procrastinator to a procrastinating class without them procrastinating to sign up in the first place?

For those of you who have studied the art of setting goals, you may have discovered that most goals are never achieved and only 3 weeks after New Year's day all resolutions are out the window. Why does this happen?

There are many, many reasons as to why someone delays goals, forgets them, changes them, and so on. The overall reasons differ for everyone; a quicker explanation is the following: Not only are people trying to do it all alone and without support, most people put way too many goals on their plate, be it for their daily or their yearly goals. To add to that overwhelm most people are their worst critic and the moment they "fail," at least that's how they feel about missing one of their goals, all the other goals go out the window, hands are thrown up in the air, towels are thrown in, you know the drill. And the fact that we shared our initially enthusiastic ambitions with the wrong people who now are in our faces saying: "I told you so."

There is a way to achieve ultimate success in 2008!

The first thing to do is to listen to your Higher Self. This is not a joke. We are all different about how we react towards setting goals. To Jane Doe a test is a nightmare come true and to Joe Blow a test is his greatest motivator. A deadline to one person may cause him undue hardship, stress and sleepless nights, whereas to me the tighter the deadline and the more complicated the task, the more revved up I get to achieving my deadline early.

For example, the most famous New Year's Resolution most undoubtedly be the issue of losing weight. No matter where you look at this time of the year, we are being harassed by seemingly endless diets that ought to get rid of the holiday excess. In my opinion one of the stupidest New Year's Resolutions is wanting to lose x-number of pounds. Besides being unrealistic and a set up for failure I find it unloving and unkind to our bodies and only makes us feel like we're being punished for something. Prison are indeed meant to be broken out of , and we all do by week 3.

So instead of sending yourself to prison on the first of each year, try this instead: Your one and only goal is to always feel amazingly great and fit.

When your object of desire becomes to feel great and fit, then you've ordered your scale to take a back seat and the scale has lost its power (because you no longer care what it has to say about you). If, however, you make a specific number a goal to achieve, then you've hired your scale to be the CEO of your body. Just like employees don't care as much about the company achieving its financial goals as they care about being treated with love and respect, your body's members want to feel the same. All your body wants is to be appreciated, cared for, well-fed (not over-fed), loved, cuddled, paid attention to and used for its original intention (to get you through life gloriously).

Are you getting all of this?

Let your body do the losing weight part! It was created to work FOR you and to weigh its optimal weight. All you have to do is love it, tend to it, listen to it and obey it. If your body feels your cooperation and you show it the utmost respect, your body will do the same for you in return by bringing forth the beautiful person you already are.

So this year make only one New Year's Resolution: Respect yourself and your body, love yourself and your body, pay attention to your Soul's wisdom instead of other people. Believe that you are protected by divine order. And the doors which open easiest for you in 2008 are the ones you are meant to walk through.

If you can make this one goal your one daily desire, you will look back onto 2008 and be utterly delighted and euphoric at how easy everything fell into place for you this year. It truly can be considered magic.

Wishing you a phenomenal year!