I know lots of people who for whatever reason can’t wait for 2010 to finish. That’s cool, but have they have learnt anything from it? For every year that passes make sure you are a little smarter and wiser.

So be smart not stupid. Don't blindly rush head first into 2011 and stuff it up! Take a good look back at the year just gone particularly any bad bits, identify the lessons learnt and use them to help make the coming year a great year.

Helen Keller said "Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood” She doesn’t mention that understanding the lessons is useless if you don’t act upon what you learnt!

Some of the things that I learnt in 2010 (taken me far too long into my life to do so)

• The less I do of the dumb things like work too much, eat too much, eat badly, stress too much, spend money I don’t have, worry about things I can’t control, the better I feel. Lesson learnt - If in doubt do less.
• The more I keep active, the more I laugh, the more I balance my life and work, the more I say no to things that I don’t want to do the more happier and relaxed I feel. Lesson learnt - do more of the right mores.
• Finally I have wised up. Over the last 12 months I have started to focus on doing the things that I enjoy. Catching up with friends, going for a walk before breakfast, playing golf etc. These have always been things I like to do. They are now priorities and go first instead of waiting until after "I do all the important things" Lesson learnt - Live now and dont put your life on hold.

What lessons will you take out of 2010?

• The tough times encountered -  how will they shape the way you approach things in the coming year
• The good times experienced – how will you replicate them?

Your Challenge: Before the week is over grab some paper and a pen. If you can’t find any buy some. Write down at least three lessons you have learnt in 2010 that will guide you to an even better 2011. Don’t be lazy, and leave them in your head, that doesn’t work. Being lazy (unless you are on holiday) means you don’t care about yourself - WRITE THEM DOWN!

Once written, condense them into short “dot point” format and put them somewhere you can view them regularly and take action.

“If you don’t know where you’re going, you might wind up someplace else” - Yogi Berra