For today’s post, I’d like to provide you with a simple tool you can use to estimate how much money you will make and how much money you will spend next year. With this tool, you can forecast your income and expenses and see how much money you will make (or not) in 2009.

Why should you do a forecast? First of all, it’s an element of a good business plan. Here are some other benefits:

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Yesterday you went through an exercise of visualizing your life one year from now and writing down goals to help get you there. Today we’ll just talk about goal setting in general. In order to create powerful goals, think of the acronym SMARTER -

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Over the past three days, you have reflected upon the last year, created a list of your core values, and have revealed  how balanced you are in your life. Today we’re going to explore why you are here.

Stephen Covey, the author of several "7 Habits" books, writes in "First Things First", writes about how humans have four fundamental needs to feel complete. They are:

1. Physical - our basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, health and economic well-being.
2. Social - our need to relate to others, to love, be loved, and to belong.
3. Mental - our need to continue learning to develop and grow.
4. Spiritual - our need to have a sense of meaning, purpose, contribution and personal congruence or alignment.

In a simple sentence, Covey says the "essence of these needs is captured in the phrase ‘to live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy’."

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In order to have a successful business, it’s important to consider how successful you are in other areas of your life. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Are your relationships satisfying?
• Are you getting enough self-care time?
• Is your health where you’d like it to be?
• Is your home a peaceful, comfortable (or lively, if that fits your personality better) place to be?

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In order to help my coaching clients focus on and move toward their goals, I ask them to do a values clarification exercise. Some of you may ask doula clients to do a values clarification exercise to help them become clear on what is most important to them with regard to their upcoming birth. In the same way, clarifying your core values, or the characteristics that mean the most to you in life, can reap the following benefits for you:

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