We’ve already reached the middle of the year. Did you follow through with your New Year’s resolutions? Have you lost the weight you planned to? Have you been eating better like you promised yourself? Have you been hitting the gym or making more money? Have you been watching less TV and improved your relationships?

If you haven’t done well in keeping with your goals, you’re not alone. Did you know that… Just 8% of People Achieve Their New Year’s Resolutions.

So, now you know that you’re not alone. Most of us have already lost track of the noble intentions we embraced several months ago. Most people feel that they had too many other things to do, or even that they were never committed to the resolutions in the first place. 

If you said yes, here comes more bad news. This kind of stress can compromise your success in reaching your goals. And because I care about your wins in life, I have to ask you a favor: Please, don’t settle for less.

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Don’t think because you’re part of this dismal statistic that there’s no hope. Don’t let yourself believe that you will always be an average Joe living an average life. 

Let’s stop everything right now and think about all your wins. Think about all the great things that happened to you this year. And in case you don’t have a lot of wins yet, keep in mind that does not define who you are. It was just a learning experience. 

You need to be the change for you, for your family, for your friends. You can do it. And just the fact that you’re reading this article is a sign that you want a better life. 

What do I mean by that? Well, there’s still hope. You can set goals for yourself any time of the year; you just need to be in the right frame of mind. 

The first step is to stop that crazy head of yours, who keeps torturing you for every mistake that you make or everything you didn’t do right.

Stop holding on to the past and silence those scarcity-mindset thoughts, like: 

• What if I don’t reach my goals in 2015?
• What if I disappoint others?
• What if I will struggle forever?
• What if I’ll never succeed in life? 

Let me tell you something, fear is what stops most people from taking action. And there are two types of fear. There is the fear of failure and the fear of success. Some people have both. 

If you have one of them, I get it. It’s not easy to face your fears and push through them. But it’s essential to push through the fear if you want to truly live a legendary life. 

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I’ve learned at least two things about achieving goals: There is an effective way and a hard way. The tough way is to work night and day, stay obsessed, rarely sleep, and never give up.  

Since everyone talks about the hard way, I want to address the effective way. After all, why struggle if you don’t have to?

I’ve used the effective way to create a successful marketing and advertising business, find my purpose in life, get healthy, increase my confidence, help people to take action and much more. Obviously, it works. Here are the steps. 

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1. Stop the fear of failure NOW: Because fear feels so uncomfortable, many of us allow it to paralyze us.  

The next time you notice yourself getting stressed out or feeling afraid, I want you to sit quietly by yourself, set your timer for five minutes and start taking deep breaths. The more you do this, the more you will trigger your body’s natural calm response, and you will move through fear with greater ease. 

Another option is to go for a quick walk or do some yoga exercises. However, my favorite technique is the “what if UP” method by Joe Vitale. It’s a simple method that consists of asking the question: “What if …..? in a positive way to open your mind to great possibilities.

For instance, What if this blog post gives you a powerful insight that transforms the way you see your life instantly? What if 2015 is the best year of your life? What if today you meet your soul mate? Using this technique, you can begin rewiring your brain to be more positive and overcome fear.  

2. The power of Now. Let’s face it, the only thing that exists is what is happening right now. The past does not exist–it’s over with and is nothing but a memory. The future does not exist–it simply hasn’t happened yet. This moment—the now—is all we have.

If you enjoy living in a fantasy world, or you are one of those people that daydream all the time, I want you to start to focus all your energy on the present moment. You’ll find that you will have better relationships, increase your productivity, less anxiety and enjoy life more. 

I used to stress about things that might happen in the future—most of them bad. Then someone really wise once told me,  “Forget about what will happen. Live your life now and you can deal with whatever comes next.”

And after fully realizing that most of the bad things I was afraid that might never actually ended up happening, I started to relax and focus on the present moment.    

“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life.” –Eckhart Tolle 

3. The power of visualization. Professional and Olympic athletes, as well as peak performers, in many other fields, use it. So, let’s talk about this technique that can help you speed up the process. 

First, close your eyes. Then start to focus on what you want. Start to see yourself as if you already have or achieved that thing or goal. When you concentrate on something, you begin to manifest it into your life.

The daily practice of visualizing your dreams as already complete can accelerate your achievement of those dreams, goals and ambitions. 

And don’t forget the most important ingredient in this process, which is take action towards your goal. 

Like the famous actor Jim Carrey, who used the power of visualization to get his first 10 million dollar job said, “You can’t just visualize and go and eat a sandwich.”   

4. Focus on yourself. It’s time to believe that you are a great human being and a unique person who has a lot to offer. Be courageous enough to be yourself and to put yourself first. 

I know so many people who feel that they need to put their kids first. Then, caring for their partner comes next. After everyone else gets their needs met, then they focus on themselves.

And I get it. It totally makes sense. We want to make those we love happy. We want to make them feel heard and understood. 

Taking care of others before we feel like it’s the right thing to do. After all, you don’t want to be seen as a “selfish” person. However, at some point in your life, you have to forget about everyone else and put yourself first.

I know how it feels. I remember a time when I put everyone else first in my life. I remember struggling with the idea of spending more time taking care of myself instead of other people who I cared about.

When I finally made the decision to focus on myself, I remember the reaction from my friends and family wasn’t what I expected. I thought they’d be upset at me.

Instead, everyone started respecting me more. In fact, they started to tell me how I inspired them to take more action to improve their lives.

The truth is that when we put ourselves first and focus on becoming the best we can be, it motivates and inspires everyone around us. It sets an example of self-respect and self-love.

And that’s the kind of person that I’m guessing you want to become: an inspiration for your beloved ones. That is priceless. 

5. Take action. To get things done, you need to take action. Don’t wait for the ideal time to make a move toward your goals. Act on every good opportunity that appears.

“Opportunities multiply as they are seized.” __ Sun Tzu

As soon as you feel fearless, you will see a world of opportunities knocking on your door. You may get help, offers, calls, or who knows what. Act on them. You never know what will lead you to your goal. Trust is the key. 

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Finally, write your goals down, and then check back in a few weeks and see how many of them you accomplished. You may surprise yourself by how quickly your goals are achieved. 

If you find yourself doubting your ability to make it happen, thinking negative, or in any way not enjoying the simplicity of reaching your goals through effective focus, then consider getting back to each step until you get everything figured out. 

Above all, have a positive attitude towards life and stay grateful for all your wins. These are all elements that will help you reach your goals.  

Writen by Gisele Oliveira