This article is about the many different ways we can trip ourselves up in setting goals, particularly with New Year Resolutions and what you can do to change. Many people evaluate their lives and set new patterns around the New Year. There are several ways that this can deliberately set you up to fail. Often this is done because there is an expectation from others that you should set resolutions at this time of year. Also there is often a sense of giving things up or a judgment about not having succeeded the previous year. Typically these type of resolutions have the word ‘must’ associated with them. Here are a few examples I have collected over the years as an NLP Coach: I must change jobs I must be able to get into this new dress by February I must do this, give up that…and so on. I’m sure you get the idea. This approach has a few pitfalls. How committed is the person to their goals if they feel forced in to them? The judgments and the sense of giving things up attaches negative emotions to the goals so they don’t seem like fun or excitement. Is it any wonder that so many people fail with New Year Resolutions before the end of January? NLP Techniques – A Solution Three elements of NLP Techniques include examining intention behind behavior, emotional state and belief changes. By taking these three elements we can start looking at our New Year Resolutions differently. Goal Setting and Intention By examining what we gain from our goals, who they are actually for and why we want them some interesting things sometimes fall out. The motivation to succeed or not comes from this element. Emotions – The Secret to Success Have you ever seen or experienced the situation where the closer you got to success the more anxious you got about it? And then possibly fell at the last hurdle? The problem with being too emotionally attached to your goals might lead to failure. How well would your crops grow if you were constantly digging them up to see how far they had got? NLP Techniques – Belief Changes What you believe about yourself and the world around you will determine your success or failure. Any NLP Practitioner Training will show you a whole number of techniques for changing beliefs, letting go of limiting beliefs and installing empowering one. Using these NLP processes you can ensure that the goals you set and the New Year Resolutions that you take on are meaningful and that you will succeed. But the real power for making big sweeping changes to your life comes from NLP Coaching Systems. NLP BreakThrough Coaching Process Many coaches are also NLP Practitioners and they have integrated some powerful tools into their coaching practice. But there are a few very skilled Hypnosis and NLP Trainers that have developed the NLP BreakThrough Coaching Process that can help in making serious and deep changes in a person’s life. This highly specialized NLP Coaching process starts by examining your goals, expectations, unconscious behaviors and repeat patterns of behaviour. Through this we can determine the key limiting beliefs and negative emotions that will let you really achieve anything you want. Then through systematic Interventions you can let go of the past and embrace powerful new ways of being. The whole process usually takes as little as three or four hours. Many people that are serious about their goals and achievements have taken this route to success. When you think about how you and the people around you set their New Year Resolutions you might be considering doing things differently. A little imagination and creative thought might give you the opportunity to achieve more in the next twelve months than you have in the last twelve years. How much of a result would that be for you?