The approach of the New Year is for many of us a reason for a resolution to change something in our lives. If you look in a women's or health magazine, or in the adverts in the media or on the web, there are resolutions everywhere: improve your image, lose weight, improve your diet, stop smoking, go to the gym, start a new hobby, learn a new language, etc.

But if we want to keep our resolutions, we need to make them smartly.

A very important factor is 'why' we decide to make that resolution. The 'why' determines the motivation; it is what will enable us to keep going even when the going gets tough. But 'why' has also to be inserted in the right frame in order to be effective.

If we make a resolution because everybody else does, or if we make a resolution because we have to, the chances are that we are not really motivated to keep it. And if we do not keep it, and maybe we are experiencing a moment of low self-esteem, the chances are that we beat ourselves up for that, and that will not do us any favours.

So, in order to make a sound resolution, it has to be first of all our choice, and it is also very important how and why we decide to make that choice.

So, let's roll up our sleeves and start working! Have you made your resolutions yet? Why have you decided to make these particular changes? Have you chosen to make them for yourself or are you pleasing someone else? Do you think that if you are pleasing someone else, you will be able to follow through with your resolution?

If you have chosen to make the resolution for yourself, how have you chosen it? Let's consider, for example, a new hobby. Have you decided to start a new hobby, because everybody else does? Or have you chosen it because it is in your life plan?

If you decide to do something because other people are doing it, do you think you will have the long-term motivation to follow it through?

The truth is that if we want real motivation for something, it has to be part of the overall vision of our ideal life, of our perfect life, of the life that would make you truly happy and fulfilled.

Clarity actually counts for 80% of success.

So, what do you want? If you don't know what you want, you need to get clarity on the true desires of your heart, because if you know what you want, you can create it. So, what would your ideal life be? Do you have a mental picture of your ideal life? If you don't have it, create it and imagine you're looking at it, and what you would have in all the different areas of your life - spiritual, emotional, mental, physical, relational, financial? Now, if you have that mental picture, what you need to do is to simply modify your present life to create that picture.

And furthermore, if you know what your ideal life would look like, and you know the changes you need to make in order to create it, when you decide to make those changes, how strong do you think your motivation is going to be? What do you think you will feel, knowing that the changes you are going to make will create the life of your dreams? Do you think you will be motivated enough to follow through?

This is working smartly.

So, the recipe for true motivation is:

decide what you want in your life, get clarity on your ideal life, see it, and create a mental picture of what you would see, how you would feel, what you would hear; see yourself living your ideal life, as if your ideal life is already happening NOW, and decide to make the changes necessary to create that picture.

You can do it; in fact you can create anything you truly want.

Choose your destiny!