All actions begin with a thought and before you can think clearly, you need to live in a place of peace. There are several ways to create peace for yourself. It can be as simple as getting the right amount of sleep that you need to recharge your body or it can be by being active daily to burn off stress. Meditation is an effective way to connect to the innermost things that feed you.  All the ways of creating peace for yourself have one thing in common. They all involve valuing yourself enough to take the time that you need daily to get in touch with what's important to you and acting on it.

When you plan to go somewhere on vacation you begin by choosing where you want to go. Creating a vision gives you a destination to travel toward in life. It is important to choose a vision that you are passionate about. Passionate means that it motivates you to the point where you are energetic and courageous enough to think your way around any obstacle. Carry paper and pen with you so that you can jot things down when you think of them. In the hurly burly of the day good ideas can slip away. Write down five words that you want to describe yourself. Words like autonomous, integrity, expressive, creative, caring, reflective, spiritual, vivacious, may be a good place to start. Plan how you're going to bring these into your life. Do something different every day to bring you closer to your destination. Create something new by stepping out of your comfort zone. The limits of our comfort zones are what keep us trapped into repetitive thinking and habitual behavior. Remember to take action because the best of intentions, without action, will not occur. Steven Covey says act or be acted upon.  Look at everything that you have done as an act of learning. What can you learn from the mistakes that you've made and the hard times that you've gone through? How has that made you a better person? We are often our own harshest critics. A New Year's resolution that didn't work may mean that you made an unreachable choice, that it was a goal that deep down doesn't really matter to you.  Alternately, consider if the fact that you broke your resolution  means that you have to wait until next January to try again?

One of the most important things to keep in mind when you're with others is to be present unconditionally. This means things like listening with all your heart, showing and speaking your appreciation and lifting others with your joy. Make every moment with others count.  The value that you give others will come back to you. This is not as important as the value that you give yourself. Treat each moment of life as if it's a miracle. Every day that you wake up is a fresh beginning and an opportunity to express your individuality. The poem "I Will Act Now" expresses human resolution.

My dreams are worthless, my plans are dust, my goals are impossible.

All are of no value unless they are followed by action.

I will act now.

Never has there been a map, however carefully executed to detail and scale, which carried its owner over even one inch of ground.

Action alone is the tinder which ignites the map, my dreams, my plans, my goals into a living force.

Action is the food and drink which will nourish my success.

I will act now.

My procrastination which has held me back was born of fear and now I recognize this secret mined from the depths of all courageous hearts. Now I know that to conquer life I must always act without hesitation and the flutters in my heart will vanish.

Now I know that action reduces the lion of terror to an act of equanimity.

I will act now.

From a 7^th century Tibetan religious manuscript on life and living, entitled Unto Thee I Grant

Further Reading

Covey, Stephen R., The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Free Press, New York, 1989. ISBN-13:978-0-7432-6951-3

Covey, Stephen R., The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People Personal Workbook, Simon and Schuster, New York, 2003. ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-5097-9