Before you rush into setting a bunch of goals for this year, there is something you must do.

Identify one significant goal for each of the following:

1. Your health - without it most of the other things in life won't matter
2. Your wealth - which is undeniably important
3. Your social self - your friends, family and community
4. Your personal self - your hobbies and interests

Make each of these four goals very specific.

Let's say your health goal is fitness-oriented. Set your goal as specific as: To add 6 kilos of muscle to your body, taking off eight kilos of fat, being able to run two kilometres in seven minutes...

Do this today. It's almost mid January, there's no time to lose! So set your four big goals and commit to them.

This year can be the healthiest, wealthiest and wisest year of your life. It's whatever you make it!

Success Loves Speed

By Robert Ringer

It's better to act sooner rather than later, without waiting to figure out everything in advance.

This is true for all areas of life. I don't recall ever succeeding at something because I got there last.

•    If you want to buy tickets for a very popular show, get there first.
•    If you want a job that you just found out about, get there first.
•    If you want to win over the guy or girl who has your heart pounding, get there first.
•    And, if you want to get the property that just came onto the market, get there first...

Because, success loves speed!

Planning: When you do too much planning, there's a tendency to think of one reason after another why what you're contemplating won't work.

Many of the reasons you come up with may be correct. But the important thing is that it doesn't matter. As you move forward, circumstances continually change, and those changes often render irrelevant many of the concerns you had before taking action.

So, don't try to figure out steps two, three and four before taking step one.

Procrastinating: When you procrastinate, you tend to lose your enthusiasm.

You get comfortable with the way things are and allow your great idea to fade into the comfort zone of oblivion.

But when you take action, your creative juices flow faster, your resourcefulness kicks into high gear, and the things, people and circumstances you need to accomplish your objectives are drawn to you almost like magic.

As a result, your motivation to succeed increases.

Time is finite: No matter how proficient you are, you can only accomplish so much in a lifetime. Every second wasted reduces what you can accomplish by one second.

And remember, when you fall - and you will fall (we all do) - simply pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and take more action.

Success could care less about mistakes. Success loves action!

In the name of happiness and success,

Pascale Barrow
Managing Editor of Personal & Finance Confidential