By this time of the year (yup – that’s just 8 weeks into the New Year!), statistics show that 95% of all people who admitted to setting resolutions a few weeks ago will have already broken or given up on them. Personal experience tells me that this has a lot to do with two things: responsibility and vision.

If you’re serious about making true progress this year, it’s essential to first accept complete responsibility for where you are or aren’t with regards to your current situation.

This will not only put you in a position of freedom where you can begin setting and accomplishing goals in all the important areas of your life, but also give you greater control of where you want to be. Your energy, time and creativity can now be channeled in a forward-looking direction.

Your ability to take 100% responsibility for where you are will determine the starting point for exponential growth in your life.

This is what differentiates the helpless from those who take full charge and drive forward, achieving one great success after another. The former will always find something or someone other than themselves to blame – whether that be the weather, the economy or the fact that other may laugh at their choices.

Here’s what you ought to know right now:

You can accept things as they are, or, you can accept the responsibility to change it. Do the latter, and there will be no limits to what you can be, do or have!

The other reason why I’ve noticed so many people fail in following through with their resolutions is a lack of vision. From wanting to lose a few inches off the bulging waistline to quitting an unfulfilling and mundane job, it appears we’re all skilled experts at knowing what we don’t want or want to get away from.

However, few people dedicate the necessary time to visualise what they want instead, the person they want to be and the life they want to be living. They fail to realise that your ability to visualise is perhaps one of the most powerful tools at your disposal.

Through conversations with and learning from some inspiring thought leaders from Arianna Huffington to Simon Sinek, one of the top lessons shared by all was the importance of vision.

Why?

Because energy comes from being truly excited (think back to how you felt in the weeks and days leading up to a long holiday or even planning for your first date with someone you found yourself attracted to!), which is exactly what happens when you have a compelling vision of what you really want.

Note: not what you think you want or what you believe you should have by comparing yourself to others.

Willpower seldom lasts. Clarity of vision on the other hand has pulling power, especially when you’re crystal clear on exactly where you want to be; what all the important areas in your life would look like if you were to give them a top 10/10 rating. As the late Steve Jobs once remarked: “If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.”

So… Make today the day you stop making excuses and start making real progress towards your exciting, powerful and inspiring visions of where you want to be by the end of this year.