It's the New Year and this means the time for a fresh start, particularly when it comes to health and fitness. When you make your New Year's resolutions do you ever have grand plans to completely detox your body? However, is there ever a part of you which knows that deep down, by March, you will retreat back to your old ways?

The key to sticking with your New Year's resolutions is to take small steps. Follow these simple guidelines to ensure that this year is the one where you achieve your goals.

Have a Vision
A vision board is a great way of understanding what you really want out of life. Over the next week collect photos, pictures and words from newspapers, magazines and the Internet. Everything you collect should represent your perfect life and the way you want to be as a person. There is no need to think about why or how, just go ahead and collect them. Then, get yourself a large piece of card and stick all these pictures, words and images on the board. If you need to write any inspirational sentences or notes to yourself then do so. After you have done this you will be much clearer about where you want to be in your life. Also, when your dream life is there in front of you, you may even be surprised how much more achievable it seems.

Break it Down
Get an A4 sheet of paper and write down these four titles: My One Month Goal; My Three Month Goal; My Six Month Goal; My One Year Goal. Then go through each of these titles and underneath write down what you would like to achieve by these milestones. Try to make the goals measurable. For example, instead of writing that you would like to be more flexible, you could write down that you would like to touch your toes. That way, when you do this it will be obvious you have reached your resolution.

Give Yourself Praise
When you have achieved your bite sized goals, keep an achievement diary. Write at the top of a piece of paper 'What I am Most Proud of'. At each of your goal milestones, write down what you have achieved. Even if it is not one of your original goals, or if you are only half way towards a goal, still just write it down. This is guaranteed to motivate you moving forward and keep your resolutions going throughout the year.

Just Enjoy
Most importantly, enjoy every step of achieving your goals. Keep smiling, keep positive and live in the present moment. This is way, 2013 will be your best year yet.

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