Where are you with your New Year's Resolutions this year? What's happening with them - coming into play or forgotten about and left behind in the summer heat?

For many of us we think our New Year's Resolutions need to be done quickly with fast results but often they require time and effort to make them into consistent change.

I have a track record of finally bringing my resolutions into regular action by around September - my argument being that it is still within the same year, what matters is making them happen, not necessarily in January! Well January has passed and the months of the new year are rattling by so how about a review of your new year goals, because that's what New Year's Resolutions are - goals for the year.

5 Goal Setting Tips to Make Your New Years Resolutions Reality:

Goal Setting Tip 1 - It's healthy to do a life review once or twice a year but more often than that can set you in a tail spin of directionless confusion. Sure, big things can happen within a year that gets you completely reassessing life but for the main, just ask yourself those big questions once every 6 to 12 months.

Have a look at what you want in the different parts of your life and figure out what you'd like to change this year and what you're happy with and want to keep. You may have freed yourself from smoking last year so that's something you want to keep the same - freedom from cigarette chemicals. Maybe this year for your health you want to increase the frequency of getting out and about with exercise like walking at least 3 times a week?

Goal Setting Tip 2 - Look at the 7 areas of life for your goals such as:

1. Health
2. Family
3. Finances
4. Relationships
5. Work
6. Home
7. Personal interests such as hobbies

Keeping your goals for the year to 7 will make achieving them much more realistic. You may find that you want to have 2 financial goals while you're happy with how things are with your personal interests - where you choose to focus is up to you.

Goal Setting Tip 3 - Write down your goals so you can be clear about what they are, how to achieve them and what they'll look like when they are achieved. This will also help you communicate clearly about them to others.

If one of your goals is a house this year then write out what sort of home you want to create. How many bedrooms, living areas, outside space, bathrooms, parking, location and price range. Put some flesh on the goals so you know where you're going with the goals. It also helps anyone else involved in the goal to clearly understand what you're doing and where you are going with it.

You can even display your goals in a prominent place so you see them all the time and stay focus on them. John Ilhan of Crazy John's started his business on its road to success by writing out his goals and putting them on the bathroom mirror. There's little use in writing down your goals, working out the details and then putting them away in a draw and being caught up in the mire of daily life. Instead, stay focused on your dreams, your goals and have them prominently displayed in your life.

Goal Setting Tip 4 - Make your goals achievable so you can achieve them. All right, that might sound a little trite but reality sets in and you need to make your goals realistic so you can make them happen.

If you have a big goal be sure to break it down into smaller components. If you are saving for a house then figure out how much you need to save each pay packet so you know how much money to set aside in a good saving account (this includes working your financial knowledge and finding out about the different types of saving accounts and which ones would be best for you to achieve your aims). This is all part of breaking the big dream down into achievable goals.

By making your goals achievable you are allowing yourself to succeed - empowering yourself to succeed.

Goal Setting Tip 5 - Do some role playing - now this might sound a little strange but it is really very liberating and empowering. The aim is to get yourself talking from the point of view of having achieved your goals. So it is the future you are talking through how you did it, what was involved, describe who is part of it and what it feels like to be doing what you're doing.

You can do this by pretending you're being interviewed for a show or magazine about successful people - those who bought their first home during the financial crisis 20 years ago and it was the start of their property success - and run through the questions that the journalist would ask such as how you did it, what it has lead onto, what life is like now, what you've chosen to do with your success, how the journalist would describe your home and daily life (maybe it's Vanity Fair?) - you get the gist.

Alternatively you could ask a friend or family member to help role play a dream goal for you so you can see and feel it better. Get them to ask questions so you can tell the story about how you achieved your goal, who's involved and what it is like.

This role playing can be really a lot of fun and very empowering. Yes, it can feel a little silly to start with but giving it a good go will have really strong results for you. It can really help clarify key questions and issues within yourself because you're having to answer questions in detail.

It's very important to keep it realistic, keep the means of achieving your goals real - don't rely on PowerBall to come in and make all the financial difference!

And they Have a Plan...

You know the saying, "Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail", well it is true. Your goals, New Year's Resolutions are there to get you planning. Those that succeed have plans - they have identified what they want, what's involved and how to get there.

If you want to free yourself from smoking, have a plan and put it in place. If you want to loose weight, have a plan and stick to it. If you want to save for property, get yourself a plan and make it happen. If you want to create a successful business, create yourself a business plan and go for it.