5 Steps to Effective Goal Setting and Follow Through

Or "How to set your new year's resolutions so that they stick"
Around this time of year I see many posts of people setting their new years resolutions.
They generally start with some sort of statement of want.

• "I want to lose 6 pounds in 2 weeks"
• "I want write a book"
• "I want to make more money"

A few well known things about writing these kind of statements:

• make them positive,
• make them actionable,
• make them specific.

But that alone will not help you achieve your goals, so what will?

Book Review: Think Like A Winner by Yehuda Shinar

Everyone can win. You just need the tools and the right attitudes. Yehuda Shinar sets out to prove that to us in this book by shaping our beliefs and actions into those used by winners.
The model? T-CUP - thinking correctly under pressure.
A winner makes the best use of their potential, even under pressure. They never give up. They think clearly. They continually push themselves to improve. They debrief and learn - during and after the performance.
( amazon.co.uk | amazon.com )

Book Review: The Truth About Getting Things Done by Mark Fritz

What? Another time management book? How many do you need? Well, not that many really, and you should have this one on your must have list.
I found a lot I liked in this book and my notes below list what I took from it on first reading, and I look forward to learning more on subsequent readings.
Organised into 9 sections and 42 "truths", Mark Fritz homes in on the basics of Getting Things Done: examining systems of action, systems of belief, hard facts, self improvement. Tight and concise writing make this a book that you can read quickly and re-read for deeper contemplation.
So... the book.   ( amazon.co.uk | amazon.com )

Book Review: Brief Counselling: Narratives and Solutions by JudithMilner and Patrick O'byrne

This book provides a summary of principles and skills  of "solution talk" brief counselling. The explanations of solution based brief counselling distinguish it from pathology based, problem-focused and problem-solving approaches.
[amazon.com][amazon.co.uk]
A solution based approach invites counsellors to "abandon expertise in 'diagnosis'" while still retaining core counselling skills and values. Skills of listening for 'competence' and solution oriented statements instead of 'deficit' descriptions, looking for more objective statements rather than 'interpretations' and looking for 'exceptions' where the client "stood up to the problem".