Thank you, Kate, for allowing me to guest blog on your website. I appreciate the opportunity for me to share at the start of a brand new year. I hope I can encourage your readers as we embark upon 2014 with fresh hopes and dreams.

We are already one week into the New Year. 2014 is here whether we are prepared or not!

What is this year going to look like for you? Have you set a few resolutions? Will a dream be realized this year?

Is this the year you plan to:

• Run a marathon?
• A 5k race?
• Take the trip you’ve always dreamed of?
• Read more books?
• Take a writing course? (That’s mine)
• Shed a few pounds?
• Learn a new language?

How often have you set goals for a new year, only to revise and reset them within a month? Or perhaps we give up by Valentine’s Day?

This has happened to me all too often. Maybe it’s because we don’t keep our focus on the prize. Writing a goal down and sharing it with a trusted friend is a good way to keep it in our sights.

Or maybe you lose your way in accomplishing that goal because you’ve lost your WHY.

This year I hope it will be different for me and for you.

I recently completed a five day course by Michael Hyatt, former CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing. He is now a very helpful leadership mentor and consultant. This five day course was well worth the investment of time and money I put into it. I recently discovered how one can maximise your child’s tax-free savings with The Children’s ISA. If you have your precious gold and are planning to invest it, this Adelaide gold buyers and selling process will help you diversify your portfolio.

The title of the course is 5 Days to Your Best Year Ever. You can find out more about it on Michael Hyatt’s website: www.MichaelHyatt.com or at www.BestYearEver.Me.

It includes a downloadable workbook and a daily video providing direction for the process of setting yourself up for a successful year. I found it very helpful.

When I worked through the SMART process on my goals for 2014, my thoughts flowed and it made it easy to get something down on paper with motivations for WHY I want to achieve the goal. SMART stand for:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Actionable
• Realistic
• Time-bound

These are the steps to achieving the goals I came up with after completing this course.

• Write it down using the SMART template
• Write your WHY next to the goal
• Get your baby steps on your calendar
• Share your goal with a supportive person.
• Review your goal regularly with your friends, family.
• Get off your BUT – as Michael Hyatt says. No use of “But I can’t” allowed.
• Honor your commitment to your goal.
• Don’t grit your teeth and try harder this year.
• Surrender your life to the Lord.
• Seek first the Kingdom of God and all else will be added unto you.

I’m excited about 2014 because I now have a written set of SMART goals that include the motivation of WHY I don’t want to settle in that area of my life any more.

I don’t want you to lose your way because you have forgotten the reasons why.

I hope these tips will help you create a SMART 2014 as you accomplish what God has called you to do.

Bless you with hope for a fabulous year.

Gigi Devine Murfitt

On my website at www.GigiMurfitt.com, I will be sharing more of my SMART goals with the hope of encouraging my readers to join me in accomplishing what God has set us to do this year.

About Gigi Devine Murfitt

Gigi Devine Murfitt is the author of Caregiver’s Devotions to Go and My Message is C.L.E.A.R. – Hope and Strength in the Midst of Life’s Greatest Adversities, which she co-wrote with her son Gabe. Gigi and her husband Steve started Gabriel’s Foundation of HOPE www.GabesHOPE.org, a nonprofit organization that serves individuals and families dealing with disability by providing help and encouragement to overcome and persevere through life’s challenges. Learn more about Gabe’s amazing story on his website www.GabeMurfitt.com.

Gigi email: Gigi@GigiMurfitt.com

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