We are officially into the New Year, and moving quickly through the first quarter.  Do you remember your annual resolutions and goals?  It is certainly easy to forget all of those new ways of being or commitments we made in the excitement of the New Year.  It is easy to get lost in the week’s tasks and forget about embracing new patterns or goals we intend to accomplish.

How do we push ourselves out of our comfort zones?  Certainly, having a coach with accountability is an easy and obvious way.  But if you don’t have that support built into your week or month, how do you challenge yourself to hold the focus on your commitments?

Determine what engages you to take the risk of stepping beyond your comfort zone.  For some, that might be creating a new daily pattern like morning meditation, exercise or a healthy smoothie.  Others are motivated by researching new approaches before embracing new patterns.  And still others are engaged with new approaches, simply for the challenge of it.  I fall into that last category; new ways to approach my goals always gives me renewed energy.

Here are some ways I am using new approaches to engage myself this year.  On my goal list is to lose some weight and increase my daily energy.  I have committed to exercising at least four times a week.  One of my clients shared that he lost 30 pounds last year using a calorie tracking app, called “Lose It.”  I started using the app at the beginning of the year and find it fun and easy to track my progress on my smart phone.  I am eating less and exercising more each week than I would without the accountability the app provides.  And because it is a new challenge, I am engaged and still paying attention to the annual goal I set in the first week of the year!

Another goal of mine is to significantly increase the revenue for my business.  I am experimenting with new ways to market myself and leverage my time.  I hired an SEO (search engine optimization) consultant to suggest improvements to my website and to increase the number of prospects who view the site.  Plus I have joined a business group called Vistage for “Trusted Advisors,” that supports providers who sell services to CEOs to increase my network and exposure to new prospects.  I am excited to see what new opportunities are created using these new approaches.

The best part is, I am much more engaged in business development than I was during all of last year.  And I am already seeing results; I have created new opportunities and I am busy writing proposals for many new projects!

What about you?  Have you embraced some new patterns or approaches to ensure your goals for the year have a chance to thrive?  Can you articulate your goals for the year?  Embrace at least one new action step this week toward what you want to be different in 2014; it will make a difference in your results.

When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.

Confucius