How often to you find yourself looking to the outside to fix what’s going on in the inside? In this time where jobs are still shaky, incomes are still up in the air and your financial lives may be somewhat unstable, it seems easier to search for comfort in all things external. And sometimes, we wonder “what if?”

Questioning our choices during rocky periods is pretty normal for most people. We look at the things we’ve done in some or all of the areas in our lives, and we second guess the steps we’ve taken. Did we build the right career in our work life? Are we spending too much time worrying about relationships in our personal life? Will the economic instability affect our family life negatively? Is our financial life going to suffer because of the disorder happening in the other areas of our lives?

Finding ourselves in undesirable situations leaves us with two options: thinking “what if?” or changing our perspective. Instead of seeking out peace of mind in changing all-things exterior, look within. When we look to others for the roadmap to living our lives, we make things more complicated. Outside fixes cloud and confuse us, making the life path made specifically for us much harder to see.

Getting caught up in the outside things you can’t control can affect you deeply. Allowing what your parents think, what your kids want or what your siblings say to make your decisions is putting them in the driver’s seat of your life. To live your own life , you must first stop jumping on other people’s paths and then focus on the one crafted just for you.

Action step

Whose life are you living? Whose path are you walking on? If you’re not sure, that’s ok. Spend this week sorting out your actions from your true intentions. If you’re doing things that aren’t tapping into your heart space, why are you doing them?

Take a look at the things you do that are not fulfilling you. After you list those actions on paper, eliminate one of them this week. Replace it with something that’s more in line with your ideal life. Live the life of your dreams -  walk on the path made just for you – not anyone else’s.

Welcome to your best year ever!! The celebration that happens during the first few days of January is a nice way to both wrap up the holidays and usher in a new beginning to our lives. We make plans for weight loss (or gain), new business opportunities, or set out on a path for our deepest dreams and desires.

Yet so many of us fall off the wagon and go back to what we did in years past.  But not in 2012! This year, I want you to focus on the positive things in your life. The things you already have will help you achieve the things you want to get during the next twelve months.

So this year, I’m going to focus on seven ideas to help you get the things you want in 2012: innovate, grow, create, succeed, collaborate, serve and shift. You’ve heard these words before. But I believe that now is the time to put those ideas into action in your personal, professional and financial lives. Here’s how:

Innovate

Find new ways to make money and save the money you already have. Tweak the “establishment” to cater to your priorities and your priorities- alone. We’re all beautifully weird, so you should focus on an individual approach to achieving whatever goals you set for this year. It’s okay; you can be different and still find success. Remember: let your freak flag fly!

Grow

Grow your business, your salary or your investments. Find opportunities in today’s environment and multiply your return on them. Look in places you never thought to look – be contrarian. Allow opportunities to pan out and just go where they take you. You’ll experience the most growth both personally and professionally by jumping on the wave and letting it ride.

Create

Create solutions to the problems that you just can’t seem to figure out. If the road looks like a dead end, create your own path to the goal. Don’t be afraid to search for creative solutions to the problems you face.

Succeed

Be your own success story. Every single step you take is one in the right direction. Don’t undermine what you’ve done because you haven’t made it to the end goal just yet. Give it time; each day is another paragraph in your own testimonial.

Collaborate

Join a team that’s going towards the goals that you are working toward. If you can’t find one, then build it yourself. Collaboration will help you grow, aide in your creativity and be helpful in your long-term success. Don’t be afraid to bounce ideas off of other people.

Serve

As you find success, remember to give back. Serving humanity can be volunteering at a homeless shelter, walking dogs at the humane society, becoming a mentor or donating money to charity. It can also mean sharing your success story with others or encouraging your friends to follow their hearts.

Shift

Move up the ladder. Increase your awareness. Listen to your instincts. Follow your gut. Shifting means more than just changing your mindset; it’s moving to higher vibrations. As you get in touch with what’s in your heart space, that shift will become easier.

My promise to you

This year, I resolve to give you creative solutions to your financial issues. I resolve to grow with you in your quest to a higher vibration. I’ll encourage collaboration among everyone reading this blog, and I’ll share success stories both here and on social media. We can serve humanity together by sharing our success with those around us, and not letting the setbacks discourage us.

In 2012, I want you to focus on these seven things. And we’ll tackle them together one at a time. Make this year the one that you act – consistently and deliberately – on the things that you truly desire.

Whenever someone says or thinks they need to change, they do some typical change-type things. They get out of a bad relationship. They cut off toxic friends and start looking for new ones. They dump their car or get a new apartment. They change their wardrobe.

People do everything they can to change their surroundings, banking on the idea that different scenery will make them different people. A quick consultation with a go-to feng shui expert and a brand-new wardrobe later, people truly believe that they have changed because they filled their lives with new stuff. After all, “the clothes make the man”…right?

This urge to change is rarely a spur-of-the-moment decision; it happens over a period of time after a series of experiences that force us to re-evaluate our lives and ourselves. Eventually, we want to change because we think this change will make us a better person. Or it will protect us from getting hurt. Or from coming off a certain way. We feel the need change because something’s going on internally that isn’t fulfilling us.

When those unpleasant feelings turn into persistent urges, why do we go for the outside more than the inside? We change externally hoping that it makes a difference for us internally. We’re banking our internal happiness or our security or our safety on external things.

See the problem here?

As we’re all very aware, December is a month of great reflection; and for many of us it’s a primer for great change in the form of a New Years’ resolutions. And they overwhelm us! Advertisers jump on the resolution train offering big discounts to those looking to lose weight, hit the gym, save more money, or get a new look.

And a lot of us get in on the action. We set big goals and we drop serious cash (for the sake of personal development) to position ourselves to achieve them. Then we work really hard at them for a few weeks or months. Eventually, though, we become discouraged at the progress we’ve made, and then we move on to other things. And we leave those big New Years’ resolutions in the rearview mirror.

I talk a lot about you figuring out what’s in your heart space and getting to know your true authentic self. As a financial planner, I of course want you to save money and live a life that’s within your means financially. As an author, I want you to understand why you spend the way you do. Once you figure that out, I want to help you rewire your thinking, get rid of those bad habits, and live the life of your dreams. And as a human being that has walked both of those paths, I can tell you that’s it’s possible to have the life you want. But it must start with internal change.

True, long-term change doesn’t happen when you buy an ab machine off of an infomercial to lose weight. It won’t happen when you fill your closet with new clothes. And it won’t be in the new apartment or new city you move to in search of it. Real change happens when you look within.

In 2012, focus on making yourself better from the inside, out. Seek out the most positive and supportive people you can. Surround yourself with people who radiate happiness. And find people that are truly successful – both personally and professionally – and don’t be afraid to ask them for advice. The more positive action steps you take this year, the better of a place you will find yourself in both now and for each New Year to come.