With the New Year fast approaching many people are preoccupied by their reflections on how they lived over the past year, and what they hope to do differently in the coming year. Unfortunately, many of us tend to look back with regret and disappointment. Although these feelings are very real, and possibly justified they are limiting. Berating yourself for goals not achieved this year, does not put you in the frame of mind to move forward in the next. So stop replaying all you regret about 2006 in your mind over and over again and consider the following. With the arrival of the New Year we are all granted the chance to start anew. And to help you do that this article will provide you with five steps you can take to Make 2007 Your Best Year Yet!

Step 1 - Maintain an Attitude of Gratitude
In our culture the consumption of luxury items is promoted as a way to achieve status, and often a person's financial standing is considered to be the key measure of their value as a human being. Living in such a climate makes it easy for us to be anxious about all that we do not have - the right car, the right job or the right house in the right neighborhood. Instead we should focus our attention on being appreciative and showing gratitude for what we do have -- our health, our family and friends and our great quality of life. So be thankful each morning you wake up to experience another day, as suggested by the following words written by Og Mandino,

I fill mine arms with thanks for this priceless gift of a new day…I am indeed a fortunate man and today's hours are but a bonus, undeserved. Why have I been allowed to live this extra day when others, far better than I, have departed? Is this another opportunity for me to become the man I know I can be?

Being thankful about the simple things in life will put you in a more positive state of mind and help to increase your overall level of happiness, which brings us to the second step.

Step 2: Figure out what makes you happy.
Ahhhh, happiness! We are all in hot pursuit of this ever elusive feeling. According to all reports once we achieve it, we must fight to hold onto it, because it is a state that is fleeting. Well, no one can claim to have all the answers, but part of being and staying happy is deciding what you want out of life -- be it more money, move love, more quiet time or simply more fun -- and going after it with all you've got. When you determine what you want and go for it, you build momentum and good things start to happen. So follow your bliss in 2007 by getting clear about what you want, and watch the positive momentum grow in your life.

Step 3 - Focus on What You Want
Once you know what will make you happy you need to start focusing on it. Most people focus on all the things they don't want, for example: their ever increasing debt load, their physical ailments, and the potential breakdown of their relationships. Despite the fact that we all recognize (consciously or not) that focusing on the positive and what we want would want would be more productive, most of us tend to constantly worry about the negative. We all know how upset or stressed thinking about what we don't want can make you feel right? Then you can easily imagine how empowered and centred you would feel if you chose to focus on what you desire: achieving financial freedom, all that we are capable of physically, and developing lasting relationships.

Making the choice to shift your attention to what you want, instead of all that you don't will get you moving in the right direction. By focusing on what you want by visualizing it, creating strategies to achieve it and/or talking about it with others, you are more likely to draw the things you want into your life, and you will be ready to tackle the next step.

Step 4 - Believe In Yourself
The most difficult and important step. For most people it is easier to believe in the abilities and talents of those around us than our own. We readily list our faults, failures and weaknesses, and shy away from acknowledging our strengths, accomplishments and successes. Our cultural tendency to be self-deprecating leads to a general lack of confidence and subsequently an inability to believe that we can do the things we dream of. Sadly, if you doubt that you can do something you will be more inclined to give up on your achieving your goals. When people try to accomplish something they didn't believe they could do in the first place and fail, they quit trying as they have proved what they believed to be true. In contrast, individuals who believe they can accomplish what they set out to do will keep trying until they get the job done. With respect to belief the following words ring true:

The thing always happen that you really believe in: and the belief in a thing makes it happen. - Frank Lloyd Wright

With that in mind imagine all that we would not have today if someone in the past had not believed in something despite the odds. Would be able to fly across the Atlantic? Call someone on the phone? Use the internet and for that matter personal computers? The answer, probably not. So, consider the following question:

What do you want that you are preventing yourself from obtaining because deep down inside you believe you can't have it, earn it or achieve it?

Once you are clear about your limiting beliefs, start thinking about how you can change them so they are empowering. If you can change your mindset so that you believe that all that you want and desire is possible, I am sure 2007 will be the beginning of a bold new chapter in your life.

Step 5 - Take Action!
This step is self-explanatory. Once you've given thanks, gotten clear about what you want, found your focus and are centered by a strong belief in yourself, you need to take action. You may not know all of the how at this moment, but frankly it doesn't matter. As Dr. Martin Luther King wrote,

Take the first step in faith. You do not have to see the whole staircase just take the first step.

So be bold! And with the knowledge that you have done all you can up to this point to get yourself on track, take action to move yourself forward in the New Year.

In summary, when the New Year hits remember to maintain an attitude of gratitude, figure out what makes you happy, focus on the source of your happiness consistently, believe that you will find a way to manifest it in your life and then take whatever action you can to move towards your goal. If you do this, I know you will be well on you way to making 2007 Your Best Year Yet!