To successfully create change, you need to approach change differently. See change as a seed you are planting. Just as seeds take time to grow – in fact, you can't force them to grow– so change happens in its own time. By cultivating the soil, planting the seed, and then watering, fertilizing and weeding around it, you allow the plant to grow strong and bear fruit. In the same way, we must nurture and cultivate change in our lives – rather than just wishing for it or expecting it to happen overnight.

To plant seeds of change, try moving through the following four steps:

1. First, cultivate the soil of your psyche by being willing to allow things to change and truly desiring change.

2. Pick out your seeds by writing down one or two – not 10 or 20 – specific things you'd like to change, such as losing 10 pounds, lessening stress or finding a new job. Plant those seeds in the fertile ground of your willingness and desire to change.

3. Fertilize your dreams and goals by visualizing them as already present. Be grateful for them now – even before they arrive! Write your desires on a card or post-it to keep them handy and look at them throughout your day. Take baby steps toward your goals everyday.

4. When the flowers bloom and the fruits ripen, celebrate! Your dream is now reality! Be grateful for the harvest.

Whether you set you resolutions on January 1st or February 1st makes little difference as long as you are serious about achieving your goals and have a true desire to create change in your life. So, stop using the excuse that it is too late to write resolutions, that you are stuck in the winter doldrums or that you don't know how to change. Make 2007 the year you set and keep your resolutions by carefully planting seeds of change and watching them grow and bear fruit.

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