Most people start the New Year with the good intentions of a list of resolutions they will put into effect, implement and/or enforce into their lives this year.

We hear them all the time: "This is the year'', or "this is the real Millennium and I'm going to do it this year, 'cause last year just slipped away, but this is the year, my year...''.

Let's be honest, I won't tell a soul and you are the only one that knows the truth, last year's resolution didn't make it past the second week and this year's was out the window by the end of the first week.

The reality is that by now, approaching the end of the first month of the year, most people's resolutions are either on the back burner or already totally forgotten. A research recently showed that most people made resolutions that included the following: Exercise Diet Save Money Advance in Career Get Organised Looking at the above list, getting organised can help accomplish and achieve the other items on the list. By that I mean you should first jot down what the priorities are to accomplishing your goals.

Yes, goals. Throw out the word resolution and replace it with the word "Goals''. Some people will insist that this is only transposing one word for another, but in my humble opinion and experience, my clients seems to be able to aim to reach a goal and stick with a plan on how to reach their particular goals rather more easily than keeping those beginning of the year resolutions.

My suggestion is to make an appointment with yourself today and reflect on what your goals are or simply where you would like to be 12 months from today.

Ask yourself this question: "What are the major goals in my business, professional and/or personal life.'' After you've written them down, prioritise them by placing your major goals on a new list. As a time management lecturer once said, prioritising your time schedule is like placing rocks, sand and water in a container. If you start with the rocks, then you can fit the sand and lastly the water in the container, but if you started with the sand or water first, the container becomes full before you can put the rocks in.

Hence, you get frustrated with the uneven balance and some will throw all the planning and goal setting aside, while others, thinking that it will go away, ignore their plan and tend to get depressed and stress themselves out by the fact that they can't get it together, not knowing they set themselves up for failure from the beginning when they didn't properly prioritise the goals they wanted to achieve.

Think of your major goals as the rocks you want to fit into your personal goal container. Don't give up. Some days it will be tougher than others to keep on track, and you will possibly stray away from the main idea, but remember what granny used to say, brush yourself off, pull up your boot straps and start again. We all tend to stray, but if we don't beat up on ourselves too much, realise we have strayed off the beaten path, and get back on track immediately; we can still accomplish the goals we initially set out to complete.

If getting organised is a major goal priority for this year, it is not too late. No, I can't turn back the clock but you can get a fresh start with the Chinese lunar New Year starting this week. If you are finding it difficult to go it alone, don't hesitate to seek help from a friend, colleague or a professional organising consultant. Gung Hay Fat Choy - happy New Year in Chinese. As Socrates said: "The least important things, we think about and talk about the most, and the most important things, we think about and talk about the least.'' Cindy Swan is a Professional Organiser with over 20 years of office administrative managerial experience. She is a member of the National Association of Professional Organisers. Her column appears in the Business section twice a month.