You are a few weeks into the brand new year. You wrote out your goals and got all excited about your 2014 plan.

I want to know.

What is different about 2014?

That is the question I have been asking salespeople and entrepreneurs the last few weeks.

Most people look at me with a strange face and say; Oh it’s better already!

Does it feel like the same old start to you?

What will be different if you are not different?

Many people count on the fact that they are re-energized and even committed some goals to paper last month, to get them through Q1.

I know it’s hard to change but for anything to change in your outside world, you must change first.

Your outer world is a reflection of your inner world.  What you are seeing take place in your life is directly related to what you believe will happen.

If you are unwilling to change your beliefs there will probably be a movie that plays over and over again, in your life and in your business.  The very idea of change is medically proven to cause anxiety, even positive change!

Since the flip side of anxiety is excitement. I coach my clients to “shift” the feeling when we talk about making changes to their business. It is OK to be concerned about what could go wrong. It’s even smart to bring those risks to the forefront. However, if you focus too much on the negative you will paralyze any opportunity for change. Think about what you want changed. The result you are trying to create.

Get excited about it!

Instead of asking you to look at the things you have to change this year, I am asking a different question.

What can you change?

When you look at change as being a “get to” instead of a “have to” ….yes you start to enjoy change.  Changing simple things up is great practice for people who are stuck.  Look at some of the most successful people you know. Chances are they went through major life changes more than once or twice. They have practiced change and they are good at it. They have exercised their change muscle.

The first thing you can look at is changing your belief system. Accept that change is a skill and you want to get better at it.  You must remember you cannot change other people belief systems. You can influence their beliefs but that’s another post!

Take a look at these opportunities for change and let me know; what you can change?

How you start your day– I just started rotating what I do first in the morning. One day its meditation, another its a work out and on Wednesdays I dance for 5 minutes after getting up. I love Wednesday’s!

These changes trick the brain and keep my routine from getting dull and easy to quit.

The time of day you begin– I know, I know, you get up so early as it is. Just try something different like 10 minutes earlier on weekdays and balancing that with sleeping extra on Sunday. Or get up an hour earlier one day a week.

Your thoughts-Experts, like the National Science Foundation, claim the average person has between 5000 and 40,000 negative thoughts a day!

If you start to become more conscious of your thoughts you can shift a negative to a positive. When I feel I am obsessing on something negative, I say CANCEL out loud. Yes, sometimes people look at when I do it. I just smile and say “I was just cancelling a negative thought” and always get a smile.

Your expectations-Disappointment and regret are some of the most energy sapping feelings. I review my expectations about my relationships regularly. It is important to communicate your expectations in your business and personal life. Create expectations, share those expectations, and create consequences, rinse & repeat.

Your words-Words have the power to influence, enroll, entertain and ignite. Is  your choice of words creating the impression you want? Is some of your language out of date or inappropriate? Tape record yourself…. or don’t bother with that shaming exercise and just decide to beef up your vocabulary a bit everyday and drop at least one over used word.

Making some of these changes will add velocity and energy to your new plans.

Once you feel different you will be more likely to see things differently and put the excitement behind your new plans for the year.

Take it from a change facilitator; the more you practice change the more flexible you become and the more incredible experiences you will have!