How to Sustain Your 2011 Resolutions

Keeping your resolutions can sometimes feel like climbing a mountain. Like these boys, make sure your goals are accessible. And don't forget to stop from time to time and note your progress. Track your growth. Notice each small success you make toward reaching your goals. It's easier to reach short-term objectives and small accomplishments will help you stay motivated. For example, instead of being focused on competing in a marathon, begin by jogging a couple of times a week.

Reward yourself. This doesn't mean eating apple pie and ice cream if your goal is to lose weight. Celebrate your success by treating yourself to an activity that doesn't undermine your resolution. If you've been sticking to your objective of eating better, your reward can be a movie or museum date with a friend.

Stick to it. Obsessing about the occasional slip won't help you achieve your goal. Do the best you can and take one day at a time. Be patient as you let a new activity, like exercising regularly, become a habit. And before long, your new healthy routine will become second nature to you.

Keep trying. If you run out of steam by mid-February, don't despair. Start all over again - set another goal to get your body in better shape. There's no reason you can't make a new resolution any time of the year.

Joining a gym or a weight loss program is the easy part but continuing to show up is the bigger challenge. Now that you have some new strategies to implement, resolve to turn your ambitions into year-long healthy lifestyle changes.

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Plan to Return to the Workforce?

In the current economic downturn, many mothers are planning a return to work to make up for their partner's lost income. If you're one of them, you'll need to create an opportunity to focus your energies and see yourself from a new perspective. Stories of other women who have gone through this challenging process can provide helpful insights and thoughts. Once you begin, your experience will give you the incentive to continue.

If you're still feeling overwhelmed about where to start, you can find helpful video tips about how to re-enter the workforce after being a stay-at-home mom and how to prepare for a job interview. And if you want to find the best company for you, Working Mother magazine has compiled several lists to point you in the right direction.

Here are some more useful tactics to put into place as you move forward with your preparations to return to work:

Review how you have dealt with other major changes in your past. What have you learned from your life experiences? Recall what worked and employ the most effective coping strategies once again. Discard what didn't.

Assess your strengths and how you have used them in particular situations before. Has your curiosity or love of learning encouraged you to gather information from the Internet, books or seminars in order to facilitate your decision-making? Whereas certain strengths may come naturally to you, others may have to be developed through hard work. Evaluate how you can build on your assets now.

Don't give in to pessimism, even when solutions seem impossible. When you're faced with difficulties, hang in there as you let go of negative thoughts and preconceived notions of failure. Utilize your personal character strengths - like persistence, hope, integrity, creativity, spirituality - to carry you through. When you create a more positive attitude, optimism will likely follow. Use your power to turn your beliefs, step by step, into positive "what ifs."

Expect to fail sometimes. And when you do, pick yourself up and start over again. Everyone has suffered disappointment along the way - but that has not been the end of the quest. Are you holding on to unrealistic expectations, an unfounded criterion of perfection, an intolerance of anything less than total success? You can learn more from failure than success and treat your setbacks as teaching tools. As you do, you will become more resilient and adaptable.

Align yourself with a higher purpose. You can build a meaningful life for yourself and your family as you form a strong connection to community, country, the world and a spiritual power. The support you gain from these bonds can ground you and give you the strength you need to continue through tough times.

Enjoy your successes and thank those who have helped you. Reward yourself when you reach a significant target and savor the feelings of power that come from your achievement. You deserve it. When others nurture you, expressing your gratitude makes both you and them feel good. Saying "thanks" creates a win-win situation for everyone.

As you begin this journey, trust yourself and your own wisdom as you integrate the changes and create a new and positive direction in life. You may find it hard to get started and even more difficult to keep the forward momentum going. The initial goal may be to uncover the courage to begin the process. If you are looking for some positive role models for success, sign up for our monthly newsletter, Stepping Stones, and receive our free ebook, Courage of Lessons Learned: Reaching for Your Goals. You'll find the inspiration you need to make this the best time of life.

Sandwich Generation: Assess Strengths and Support

As a member of the Sandwich Generation, you have so much experience managing the challenges of parents growing older and children growing up. Yet when facing the loss of a loved one, do you know what to do to care for yourself?

Take control of what is within your reach. Joannie had the drive to win for her mom. She kept herself emotionally insulated, and the fact that she is a superior athlete helped her succeed. You, too, can keep going, no matter how hard it is. Identify your strengths and make them work for you. And have the wisdom to know the difference between what you can manage and what you can't.

Relish the support that comes from those who care about you. Joannie's loss resonated for athletes and fans alike. And everyone in the Pacific Coliseum was cheering her on. She said that all the love and support made it easier to give her best. Recognize that family and friends want to see you succeed and will be there to help sustain you. You can also find comfort in your spiritual community, a therapist or a bereavement group. You do not have to do it alone - make the decision to ask for help whenever you need it.

How do you take care of yourself? Click on 'comments' below to share your thoughts and ideas -and log on tomorrow for more tips.

Overcoming Fear at the Vancouver Winter Olympics

As the Olympic Games continue in Vancouver, today we focus on overcoming two basic fears - failure and success. Competitive Olympic athletes have fought them - and so can you.

Overcoming fear of failure. For some, failure signifies humiliation and the loss of self-esteem. But when the goal is to perform to the best of your ability, you can feel good about yourself even when you don't come in first place. As Coubertain stated in the Olympic creed, "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well." Stay focused on your growth and the series of steps you take - not the outcome.

Canadian skier Alexandre Bilodeau personified this ideal as he envisioned his courageous brother as a role model - and won the gold medal in the men's moguls in the process.

Overcoming fear of success. Are you stopped in your tracks by thoughts about what might happen once you actually achieve a victory? Do you think you will be hurt by the high expectations of others after your triumph? Believing you must perform perfectly sometimes stands in the way of achieving your goal.

U. S. figure skater Evan Lysacek had to deal with this stress at the Olympics, admitting, "I did have some extra pressure coming in as the reigning world champion." He took the chance for additional success at the Games and skated with passion and skill, winning the gold medal and savoring the experience.

Competing at the Vancouver Winter Olympics

Ever since the first modern Olympic games were held in 1896, athletes have worked hard to 'go for the gold.' Baron Pierre de Coubertin brought the ancient Greek Olympiad back to life to recreate the ideals of physical, mental and spiritual excellence demonstrated by the athletes there. This year, the athletes at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver are competing again, continuing the tradition of training long hours, maintaining a positive attitude, and overcoming their fears - all in an attempt to accomplish their personal best.

Although as a Sandwiched Boomer you may not be vying for any medals yourself, you can learn something about triumphing over worry and apprehension from the stories of athletes around the world. All this week we will be looking at 8 obstacles to consider as you map out your own personal strategy for success. So be sure to join us each day as we focus on how you can learn to overcome your fears.

Sandwich Generation: Resolve to Pay Attention

Whether you're a member of the sandwich generation or not, changes in your love relationship are like any personal change - to be successful long term, you need a clear idea of what you want and a good reason to keep going. What follows are some final tips to help you achieve your 2010 relationship goals:

Celebrate good times. Respond enthusiastically when something positive happens to your partner. Make the most of it by asking relevant questions and being complimentary. Studies have found that celebrating positive events predicts greater relationship satisfaction than commiserating over negative ones.

Stay engaged. It's easy to get stuck in a routine and not notice the changes going on around you. Paying attention to what's different about your partner may surprise you, as well as increase your attraction, motivation and connection.

Bring out the best in each other. Studies show that when partners more closely resemble each other's ideal selves, they fare better as a couple. List your personal goals and the qualities you like most in your significant other. Chances are there's an overlap between the self you aspire to and the aspects of your partner that you appreciate the most.

Although improving your partnership may seem overwhelming sometimes, it's really the little things that matter. Expensive gifts and exotic trips are nice, but they're not as meaningful in the long run as simple acts of gratitude and kindness. Long after you've opened the last present or downloaded the vacation photos, that reservoir of goodwill will keep nourishing your relationship. Commit to sustaining your 2010 love resolutions – you won't regret it.

Journey of the AIG Bonuses

All over the news these days is the disgust of the American people with the $165 million dollar bonuses AIG gave their own executives, as a "retention bonus." After originally accepting $150 billion in TARP money, paid for by the American taxpayer, AIG has been scheduled to receive another $30 billion. But now the government has been reacting to the anger of the people and demanding some restitution of the bonus money. Every day Sandwiched Boomers manage their budgets while caring for growing children and aging parents - why can't corporate executives and our elected officials be as responsible with our taxpayer money? You may be having discussions with your children about fiscal responsibility - especially in the current economy. Why not talk with them about some life lessons at the same time?

Take the long-range view of things. A certain action may seem like a good idea at the time, but have extremely negative consequences in the long-run. It's important to think about the logical longterm consequences of your behavior before you rush into any major decision.

Take pleasure in the process, not just in attaining the goal. All too often, the emphasis is on the prize at the end of the journey - money, success, recognition. But each of these can be fleeting - some of the AIG bonuses may be paid back or taxed very heavily - and not provide the great satisfaction we expect. When we instead focus on the process of working toward a goal itself, the journey can be exciting and fulfilling in a very meaningful way.

When you click on the title above, it will take you to one woman's story about the process and meaning of her journey to wellness after breast cancer.

As you work toward achieving your dreams, it will not always be a direct line to success - often you will stumble along the path. When you do, follow the lead of the Olympic athletes. Vie to gain the prize you seek, even as a Sandwiched Boomer, dealing with your family-in-flux..

Expect to fail sometimes. And when you do, pick yourself up and start over again. Every athlete who has made it into Olympic competition has suffered injury and disappointment along the way - but that has not been the end of the quest. They know that they can learn more from failure than success. You, too, can treat your setbacks as a teaching tool. And as you do, you will become more resilient and adaptable.

Be a good sport. As we have told our children, good sportsmanship is an integral part of athletic competition. Be a generous winner and a gracious looser - acknowledge the efforts of others who are in the contest with you. Think about teamwork and how you can operate together to accomplish your goals. Cooperation can be an important adjunct to competition even with the goal of outperforming others.

Tomorrow we will look at two more skills for you to integrate from the world of coaching.