Did you start off the new year with goals and plans? Are you achieving everything you set out to do? Feel invigorated by your new life?

If you answered "no" to any of the above, you could be missing out on a key component to achieving what you want ? making a decision, then making a declaration.

One of the reasons we fail to achieve what we want is because we have not DECIDED this is what we want. Once we decide this is it, no going back, this is who I am, this is where I am going, the momentum starts to build. When we go after big goals it basically requires a re-invention of who we are, how we behave. Otherwise we will just be the same old person trying/hoping/wishing to get something we have always longed for.

Here is an example. Every year many millions of people set the goal to shed some weight. They plan out their ultimate goal with milestones in between, they may join a gym, hire a trainer, join a support group. A year later they are back where they started ? hoping/wishing/wanting.

There is no energy in hoping/wishing/wanting. There IS energy in DECIDING. Notice the difference when you say: "I hope I lose weight this year" versus "I decide to lose weight this year." The 'decide' is unequivocal, fierce, definitive, assertive, action-oriented. To "hope" is 50-50, stuck, limp. Don't be a limp noodle! Make a decision, and BE that decision.

How do you BE a decision? Make a declaration that creates the new you.

Example: "I am now in perfect health. I am someone who respects and honours their body with regular exercise and nutrition. I feel good and look awesome!"

Sounds better than "I wish/want/hope to lose weight this year", doesn't it?!

So go ahead ? decide, declare, and reap the rewards of your new energy!

Zoe Herbert is a Canadian Australian living in Canberra Australia where she runs her own coaching business, Inner Compass. As a coach, Zoe loves to help busy professinals work less and achieve more. Zoe has worked in the personal development industry since 1987 with over 200 individuals and groups. She spent 8 years working with Outward Bound Australia where she served as instructor, trainer, developed the Instructor Training Program, and served on the executive. She has served in leadership positions in various outdoor organisations, including as Chair for the Australian national peak body for the outdoors - the Outdoor Council of Australia. Zoe loves running marathons, hanging out by the surf, sea, and sand, and drinking a good glass of red wine. Visit Zoe at http://www.innercompass.com.au