I've held many titles: mother, daughter, wife, business owner, etc. and not a single one of those titles comes with "do nothing" in the job description. Rest, somewhere along the line, has become a foreign word to me. This weekend was a little different. In my efforts to keep the challenge alive over the weekend I decided to take a break. Rest was my something new. Normally I work six days out of the week and use Sunday to prepare my home and my child to start over again on Monday. This weekend there were no clients, research or studying. I did not return one single email. I took the weekend just to hang out with my family and friends and of course enjoy my various social media channels: Facebook, Twitter and now...Pinterest.

Confession: I woke up this morning terrified. Today is the first day of the Live Well Women's History Month Challenge and I jumped out of bed early ready to be infused with some cosmic morsel of knowledge to boast about today. I turned on the news, cracked a window and starred at my vision board. I was in the perfect position to learn something new. Five minutes later and not a tad bit brighter, I decided this wasn't working. "I know," it told myself, "the dictionary!" So I made a deal with the universe. I would stop freaking out as long as I could learn a new word. I opened up to a random page in my Webster's Dictionary with the intent of just reading until I came across a word that I didn't know...easy breezy right? Wrong! Let's just say although you can't tell by my Word's With Friend's scores, your girl has a mean vocabulary. The dictionary wasn't helping.

Success is not your right, but your responsibility. You see your existence at this very moment is something of a privilege. I am a woman who miscarried a child. There is something about that process that demonstrates just how fragile life is. My baby was one of many that failed to be born. That child could have been you. You survived the miracle and tragedy of being birthed. There is triumph in your being here. Everyday a mother makes a choice that due to her circumstances, lack or resources or support, it is best not to introduce a child into this world. That decision was not made for you. There is honor in your being here, despite your circumstances, lack of resources or support.

I believe in divine purpose. I believe in a creator that is not wasteful. I believe that I was created for a purpose (or many purposes). I believe the exact same thing about each and every one of my clients. I follow nature. I'm a gardener. It is overwhelming sometimes for me to sit in my garden and watch the natural order of things; the delicate cycle of life. In my garden I watch every creature, from the smallest bug to the largest tree, know its role and play its position. The ants march orderly, destined to fulfill their life's purpose. They are soldiers, protectors, warriors. Some are hunters and gatherers. Some ants care for the larvae and trust me they know when to fight and when to exit and regroup.

What I have learned from watching the creatures in my garden is that when you have a job to do and you believe that your mission is your reason for living...it's hard to be depressed. I don't find too many ants abandoning ship in my backyard. Even when I displace their environment by planting a new crop or adding a stone decoration, the ant will fight very hard to return to its job...to doing what it is supposed to be doing.

We have that same passion. We have that same desire. Our spirits are fighting to fulfill their purpose in the limited time that they have on this planet, but for many of us we are our own roadblock. Our thoughts, our narrow vision, our weak faith get in the way of us fulfilling our responsibilities to the universe. Lack of order creates space for chaos. Chaos in our minds can become disease in our bodies. Uncovering your path and discovering your passion in not a luxury it is a necessity.

Instead of resolutions I encourage clients to establish goals. While resolutions are blanket statements delivered to the universe with no plan of action, no reference and no structure of measurement, SMART goals are Smart, Measureable, Attainable, Realistic and Timebound. Let's examine each component.

A specific goal answers the who, what when why questions. For example your New Year's resolution might be to start your own business, but your SMART goal will assist you in the planning of this project by answering the following questions:

What business will I start?

Where will my business operate?

Who will be my partners? Who will I need to work with?

Why is this business important to me?

When will I start?

A measureable goal is one that has milestones. Instead of setting the resolution of losing 25 pounds, a SMART goal might be to lose two pounds per month for the entire year of 2010. This way each month you are charting your loss and you can see what works for you and adjust monthly if you find a certain workout or nutrition plan isn't doing what you expected. Also a measureable goal leaves less room for surprise at the end!

An attainable goal is a large goal that is broken down into smaller, easier to accomplish parts. Take the weight loss goal for example. By breaking down the 25 pound goal into 12 smaller parts, you get to celebrate and encourage yourself along the way. Are your goals for 2010 attainable?

When first introduced to the SMART goal system I fought the realistic part. I thought who am I as a coach to tell someone that their goal is or isn't realistic, but working with clients every day has shown me why this is important. I believe that where there is a will there is a way, but I also believe that personal and physical factors can influence our ability to overcome certain challenges. I would never tell someone that they can't accomplish a goal, but we may need to determine whether or not you need additional time or resources to proceed.

Finally your goal should be time-bound. You should define start, end and check in points on the road to achieving your goal. If, for example, your goal is to write a book, you might want a date for your chapter outline, dates that each chapter will be completed, a date that the draft will go to your editor, etc. Making your goals timebound encourages constant effort. Trust me it works!