Alarm

After writing the Journey to Success profiles of highly paid, highly sought-after trainers for two years now, I've found one thing that many of them have in common: they take the week between Christmas and New Years to reflect on how the previous year went, what goals they hit and what goals they missed, and set new goals for the coming year.

Success doesn't happen by accident. It is the product of thought, planning, action, and accountability. And when you're running your own show, that accountability is usually self-induced.

Plan now for some reflection time the week after Christmas. Chances are, your training schedule will be slow, and it's the perfect time for you to honestly assess how you did this year, and to strategize how to do even better.

And just like we tell our clients, written goals rule. Make sure you record very specific goals that you want to achieve in 2011, and then create a plan of action on how you'll get there. The more specific and simple, the better. Create steps that anyone could achieve -- and you undoubtedly will!