Making New Year's Resolutions that Count

Over the last couple of years I haven't really taken out much time to ensure that everything was on track in all areas of my life. My focus has mainly been my career and to be honest I've thoroughly enjoyed it. I've photographed at some major world events this year including the Commonwealth Games in India which was certainly an unbelievable experience. Just recently I've completed a photo stint for the World Festival of Youth and Students - also amazing. Despite the disorganised nature of the event, experiencing the diversity and energy of young people was something I'll never forget.

Today was a kind of sad day - it normally is for many people that are away from their families and loved ones during this time of year. Christmas is not a great time to be alone. Sure, the day was fun and I spent some time with local friends and colleagues from the BBC and Czech newspapers, but for the first time I did miss the snow and the traditional Christmas eve dinner (carp not turkey!) in Czech Republic. it did get me thinking a bit about what I really wanted for myself in the longer term and I set out to find a decent guide to making effective New Year's resolutions.

As luck would have it I stumbled across a life coaching website that had an interesting article on the exact topic. In fact it offered a free making New Year's resolutions tool. I was rather sceptical about at first - you know, I thought it might be one of those let's fill in a personality questionnaire and we'll send you some generic email that could be applicable to anybody types. I decided to give it a try though and I'm so glad I did. The quiz was a short one - not more than 2 minutes to complete, even with some thought. The results however were really interesting - not so much the content (which was mostly my own input from the form) but the presentation of it. It gave me an incredibly clear view of what was most important to me and how well I was faring in terms of my own goals from a holistic perspective - spirituality, career, work-life balance, money, family, relationships etc. There were a series of thought-provoking questions which really struck home too - both in terms of relevance and in terms of importance.

All in all, it triggered a bit of pondering on what I want for myself for next year, 2011. More importantly, it allowed me to think of aspects of my life in relative priority which I had not really taken the time out to do before. If that's what personal life coaching is about - I'd say it's definitely worth the time. Even if you don't hire a coach - do the questionnaire... it's worth the effort! It certainly was for me. You can find the coaching questionnaire on http://lifecoach-pro.com/20101212/make-new-years-resolutions/

All the very best for 2011 - it's going to be a great year ahead!
Oli