“You’ve Got To Have Heart” picks up where we left off with last week’s “This Year Will Be Different” blog, which is where I shared strategies for goal attainment.  No one starts out on a journey thinking they’re going to fail.  We all start out with intentions of succeeding; excited because we can’t wait to see the fruits of our labor.  We start out full of vitality and energy, steadfast in our resolve.  And then…time passes. Doubt creeps in and you start to question yourself asking, “Why did I decide to take this on?”  It’s been a week and I haven’t lost the twenty pounds I set out to lose.  Or I haven’t made the $1000 I expected to make.  And this is where the problem starts.

And so, it goes…with the start of every new year, people identify goals they want to achieve for the coming year.  For some whose goals are fairly similar to the prior year’s resolution, there’s this sense of, “This year is going to be different!” Which camp do you fall under? Are you happy operating in “your comfort zone”?

I can’t imagine living a life without inspiration. When I’m inspired, I get excited; I have hope; I feel like I’m invincible.  I would compare life without inspiration to being like life without color.  The sky is gray, flowers are not vibrant, and everything is just drabby.  And because life looks this way there isn’t any real joy or passion.  In those moments when you need a little pick me up or a reminder of the many great things you have in your life, turn to the power of inspirational words and watch your attitude change!

Have you ever heard of the adage, “slow and steady wins the race”?  In many situations, this approach is sometimes true. The tortoise in the story of the tortoise and the hare won the race not because he was the smartest, fastest, or even wittiest. Rather, he won the race because he was so focused on the end result: crossing the goal line. Like the tortoise, you too have the ability to with the race.  Here are some strategies you can use to give you that edge, to stay laser-focused, and stay motivated so that you can achieve your goals.

Like it or not, we have all judged a person, at some point in our lives, based on that first look. Think about the thoughts that pop into your head as you’re walking down a busy street in New York City. When you think about these people that you see, you inherently start to form an opinion. It’s human nature. What impressions do you make on people the first time they see you?

If you ask me, I think the ability to stay motivated is a continuous event. It’s not something you implement once and forget. It’s not something that, when done, is performed the same way every time you do it. I believe staying motivated is something that you do often and the way you go about it changes based on the timing or situation. What do you do to keep yourself motivated?

Feeling out of place and like you don’t belong or are not accepted can certainly make you feel alone and uncomfortable. The way that one handles this uneasiness varies from one person to the next. Some avoid the situation as much as possible. Others face the challenge head on. While others find it difficult to make decisions or even worse, fall victim to mistreatment and abuse. In Part 2 of Fitting In, we’ll delve into the reasons why people change their behavior based on who they are with .

At some point in your life, have you have experienced that awkward moment, that moment when you have felt uncomfortable? Maybe you felt like you don’t fit in or that you don’t feel accepted by your peers, co-workers or family? Maybe you just felt like the outsider. What is it that makes us feel this way? Is it something that we are innately born with? Or is it learned? Perhaps it has something to do with the way we feel about ourselves? What do you do when you find yourself in these situations?

Does the thought of getting old cross your mind? Perhaps you find yourself thinking about it when you stand up quickly and you experience a weird twinge or an electrical shock shooting down the lower part of your back. Maybe it crosses your mind as you try to play dodge ball with a younger group of kids.

I can remember thinking when I was a little girl, “I can’t wait until I get older. Then, no one can tell me what time to go to bed.” When my teenage years hit, I wasn’t concerned with bedtime. Now, I wanted to control curfew. “Why do I have to be in by 11:00pm when all my friends have until midnight?” “Life has got to better when I get older!”

The popular and well-known saying used when tackling big goals and huge problems “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” is something you can apply when trying to formulate a solution or when you start out on a new endeavor. When a problem seems overwhelming or when you are starting a new project, you need to step back, assess the situation, and determine what steps you need to take to either rectify the situation or move forward. Great! You’ve identified the plan! Now what?

If “Auto” is your pilot as you have navigated through life have you found yourself asking the questions, "How did I get here?” or “What have I done with my life?” What do you do when the answer to these questions are less than desirable? Read on to learn more…