If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.

Albert Einstein – 1879-1955, Theoretical Physicist

It is the time of year where most of us set goals, make promises to ourselves and others, and often feel guilty over unmet past resolutions.

This year I hope to encourage you to set BIG goals and help you achieve them! Einstein’s wisdom might hold the clue to move from idle wishing to your success.

One of the reasons we often feel unfulfilled is because we tie our happiness to our external world–people and things, rather than the achievement of worthy goals. Even a goal to loose weight, although seemingly about you, is often tied to how others will perceive you or treat you rather than how you will feel.

When our happiness is driven by our inner desires life becomes magical, work is rewarding and relationships are fulfilling.

Do you remember how great you felt when you accomplished something that felt really worthwhile?  How did it make you feel? When I achieve things that were a stretch, I feel strong, fulfilled and ready for more. That feeling is the real objective of setting goals; not the typical guilt ridden feeling New Years resolutions often create.

It isn’t that the people in our lives or things we want are not important; it’s that only when we are living our life from the inside-out can outside events and things actually be satisfying. Setting goals must start from your inner metric of happiness, not an outer objective. To set these types of objectives you’ll need to know what you really care about.

Answering the question, “What do I really want?” is one of the hardest things you may ever do.

You have probably not been conditioned to look inside and discover the answer to that question. More likely you were subtly, and not so subtly, taught that thinking of yourself is selfish and something to be avoided. Finding your answer may be the single most important thing you do this year. Here are some questions to ask yourself to help you find your own answer to “What do I really want?”:

• What brings joy to your heart?
• What will get you up in the morning excited for the coming day?
• Why do you want to do (fill in the blank)?
• How do you want to contribute to the world?
• What would you be willing to risk everything for?
• What would be so important that the why for doing it is more important than all the obstacles and reasons to quit that you might encounter?
• How will doing this make you feel? What will be the consequences of achieving this goal that are your deep “Why do I want this?” Sometimes your why is buried, don’t settle for your first answer. What will be different? Who will it help?

Knowing what you really want will be your grounding rod, your compass, your rudder. Answers to all other questions revolve around the answer to your inner most desire. If you leave this unknown to you, how will you craft your days, weeks, and years into a meaningful and fulfilled life?

Rather than rush into resolutions and goal setting, take some time early in the year to investigate what would really make you happy. I have some great techniques to creating goals that revolve around your inner passions in a FREE chapter from my upcoming book, Be A Female Millionaire.  Download it to help you delve into setting goals that make your life sing. Or if you really want to create a life of thriving, invest in yourself at the beginning of the year with my Wealth Development Program where I will help you identify great ideas and ways to make money doing what you love.