Happy New Year! This is the last blog post for 2009, and I am looking forward to a wonderful 2010!

The New Year means many things to different people. It may mean a fresh start, a time to set goals or resolutions for the future, clearing out the clutter, quitting bad habits or a beginning to daily affirmations and gratitude.

New Year’s Day is a time to get started on your goals and ideas for the future.  It marks the beginning of a calendar year when people begin anew and put their past behind them.

So, what are your goals for the New Year? Do you have big dreams and goals you would like to achieve in 2010, or at least get started on them?  You may have goals such as:

• Adopting a child from another country
• Being more environmentally conscious
• Building a new home
• Building friendships
• Buying a beach house on the coast or summer cabin in the woods
• Buying a new car, boat or RV
• Donating more to charitable organizations
• Finding a new career
• Getting into shape
• Getting more organized
• Going on a cruise or other vacation
• Losing weight
• Owning your own business
• Paying off your credit cards
• Putting your children through college
• Quitting smoking
• Redecorating your home
• Running a marathon
• Saving money for retirement
• Spending more time with your family
• Starting a new hobby
• Starting a new relationship
• Working from home
• Writing your first book

Whatever your dreams may be, it’s important to have a plan to achieve your goals and make this your mantra:

Live a

• Purposeful life by
• Optimizing your time
• Writing down what you want, and
• Empowering yourself to
• Release negative thoughts and fears.
• Dream big, build
• Relationships, take
• Immediate action and
• Visualize success
• Every Day!

Happy New Year!

To Your Success,

Kay L. Fontana
“The Grandcoach”

While shopping for our grandson’s Halloween costume, I noticed the disarray in the store caused by the transition from Jack-O-Lanterns to Christmas trees.  Fall is here, Halloween is in a few days and the temperatures have dropped.  The holidays are just around the corner, which means there is an increase in stress: stress caused from travel, shopping, cold & flu season, financial woes and all the other joys of the holiday season.  These are compounded by all the other daily stresses you may have in your life at the moment.

Excessive stress can create anxiety that prohibits you from reaching your goals.  Stress can also cause some very common health-related problems including fatigue, insomnia, high blood pressure, cancer, stroke, heart attacks and other illnesses.  Unless you take control and learn how to manage the stress, it will lead to chronic illness and sudden death.

The 6 Steps of Stress RELIEF can help you gain control of what is causing you stress and help you achieve your goals, even during the holidays.

1. RELAX – The key to learning how to relax is that you have to make the conscious effort to do it.  Using specific relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing exercises or Yoga, can help you control anxiety and fear, feel more at ease and even help you sleep at night.

2. EXERCISE – Physical exercise is the good kind of stress that our bodies need, and has been proven to positively impact overall wellbeing.  However, it is important to remember to exercise your mind, as well. This could be in the form of reading or in the form of mental exercises such as puzzles and brain teasers or creative writing.

3. LIVE, LOVE and LAUGH – Live, enjoy life and focus on the positive aspects of your world.

Love your family, friends and those close to you.  Show gratitude and appreciation everyday for the little things they do.

Laugh and have fun. Watch a funny television show or rent a comedy movie.  Discover ways to laugh with your family.

4. INNER PEACE – Ways that you can find inner peace are through meditation, faith and spirituality.  These are more personal and include methods that really resonate with you, such as going to church or meditating at home.

5. ENVIRONMENT – This is so important to your well-being. If you have clutter around the house, papers needing to be filed, dishes in the sink or laundry to be folded, this can cause stress.   Your environment can cause illness as well. You may have dust, mold and mildew that you cannot see that can be creating significant health issues for you.  Make an effort to evaluate your environment and take corrective measures to make it healthy for you and your family.

6. FAMILY and FRIENDS, or other support systems – People who have support systems to help them through difficult times are much more likely to experience a reduction in their stress.  Family and friends can help find solutions to problems, but also act like a sounding board to vent frustrations and offer emotional and sometimes financial support when needed.  Getting a coach is an excellent way of establishing a collaborative relationship to help you develop effective strategies to gain control of your stress.

My challenge to you is to make a list of those strategies you are going to implement and put them into action.  By doing so, you are inviting gratitude, balance and tranquility into your life, even during the holiday season.

Warm regards,

Kay L. Fontana