Who do you want to be? How do you want to live? While there are a few very contented souls out there, most of us see these questions and begin to dream! We think of who we want to be in 5 years, 10 years... what we want to have accomplished, the lives we want to have built, even the personal goals we hope to have achieved!

How do we get from here to there? Next year if you want to be 30 pounds lighter, or in 5 years if you want to be on your way up the career ladder having obtained that managerial level (or even having started your own company by then!)... What steps do we take?

I am a big proponent of setting goals, and even more importantly you have to live each day as if you HAVE ALREADY ACCOMPLISHED YOUR GOAL! Perhaps its the old 'fake it til you make it method', but in many instances it can prove very successfully with time. For example, if you want to lose 30 (or 50, or 100).. you have to day by day change your life into that of someone who weighs 30 pounds less. Picture in your mind what an overweight person does each day, what they eat, when they eat, how they move or don't move. Then imagine how a fit and healthy person lives each day- what do they eat and how often, how do they move and exercise? Where do you fit in to this spectrum?

One of my personal 'problatunities' (that's the opportunity we turn all of our problems into if you didn't get that ;).. is I see in extremes. I want to work out really hard and not eat for a week to lose weight, not eat healthy and exercise moderately 3-4 days a week. But then your body hurts so bad you don't want to work out again for 3 months.. and when you break the fast you binge and regain any weight you lost. Tending your garden each day is key. Eating a little healthier each day, or taking just one more step on that treadmill.. every day... and you will go far.

It works for pretty much any goal. Think of where you are today and where you want to be in the future, and decide what small actions you need to take each day to get you from here to there! And never forget -practice makes perfect! Practice being today who you want to be tomorrow.. and when day you will realize you aren't acting or 'practicing' any more.. you just ARE!

I'm a big coffee fan! This is a relatively new development (in the last couple of years anyway)! I can't speak to the health benefits or lack their of (I'm not a doctor!), but I have found in my personal experience it keeps me kickin', I focus better, and (I don't know if I'm supposed to say this online or not..) it keeps ya regular if you know what I mean! ;)

I've found drinking coffee instead of diet soda (or gosh forbid real sugar drinks! :p) has been a good change for me. I'm not always a fan of caffeine so I bounce back and forth between regular and decaf.. whatever works!

Cheers!