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By now you’ve made your New Year’s Resolutions.

But are they goals or dreams?

Dreams are what you hope to accomplish, but you haven’t really figured out how you’re going to get it done. Dreams may be to lose weight, make more money or get out of debt.

Goals are specifically what you plan to accomplish and you probably have some idea how to achieve them. A goal may be to lose 20 pounds, to make $5,000 extra or to pay off $10,000 in credit card debt. And if you’re still in school, make As and Bs.

Goals are more likely to materialize than dreams because you have identified your target instead of some generic, unspecific dream.

But don’t expect to reach your New Year’s goals or dreams unless you make a game plan to form daily habits to achieve them.

An NFL team can’t just say it’s going to the Super Bowl. The head coach and his staff has to set specific goals and make a plan to reach those goals, such as winning three out of every four games and winning the division, which would produce a 12-4 record and likely home field advantage in the playoffs to have a better shot at being in the Super Bowl.

But an NFL team also has to break down the goals to the basics of what it takes to even win a single game, such as players’ daily eating and work out habits, daily work on technique, daily analyzing video on opponents, daily strategy meetings and daily practicing of critical situations in a game. These daily activities help a team form habits that will materialize in victories and possibly a Super Bowl.

So in order to reach your New Year’s Resolution, you have to specifically identify what you want to achieve and make a game plan.

But along the way, you will be tempted to get off track, but that’s only because you didn’t identify a strong enough reason why you want to accomplish your goal. So make sure you understand what you hope to do with what you have once you reach your goal.

I actually recognized what I wanted to change in 2010 at the end of last year, but I didn’t know how I was going to do it. Now I do after spending the last four days of 2009 out-of-town with the young president of a company that I plan to work from home to reach my goals.

This young president and his mentor (who each own their own private planes, sports cars and hefty bank accounts) personally took time out of their holidays to teach me how to identify my goals and maximize my potential by making a game plan of daily habits. They treated me like family and we look forward to building on our friendship to help me stay focused on the daily habits that are required to reach my goals.

One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to earn $300,000 from the young millionaire’s company. $300,000 seems like a lot for some people and for others not much. But hey, it’s my goal, not yours.

To make a game plan for my goal, I had to break down how much I need to make per month and then per week and figure out how many sales I need to make per day.

So now I know in order to make $300,000, I have to form the habits of making 40 phone calls a day, setting 6 appointments a day and making 13 sales per week for 48 weeks (because I plan on going on four week-long vacations) to make $300,000 this year with one company. I know I’ll be tempted to get off track, so I have also detailed everything I plan to do with the $300,000 so that I stay the course even when I’ve made $150,000, which is double what I made last year but not enough to do everything I want.

If your resolution is to lose 20-50 pounds, you have to break it down to how much weight to lose per month and per week and what daily habits produce the weight loss, such as specific eating habits and exercises. And also figure out what you want to do once you have lost the weight.

To be successful at reaching your goals, you have to make habits of doings things you don’t normally feel comfortable doing because if doing what you’re comfortable with created what you really want, you would already have it. Eventually, you will feel comfortable with your new habits and achieve your goal.

However, being successful also requires constant growth and therefore changed habits or you will stay where you’re at.

For instance, I made a goal to be the No. 1 agent with another company in 2009, and I achieved that goal to build a brand new house, pay off my debt, publish my first book and take my family on a lot of great vacations, such as Barack Obama’s inauguration, Michael Jackson’s memorial, Disney World birthday celebration and a Bahamas cruise for being the No. 1 agent.

But since that company decreased its compensation and increased my responsibilities, I quit and sought another work-from-home opportunity to achieve even greater results, and I’ve found it and have made a game plan to be even more successful in 2010.

By sharing one of my New Year’s Resolutions and how I plan to achieve it, I hope you have an idea of what it takes to make your New Year’s Resolutions come to pass. Don’t just say what you want. Make a game plan and work on it daily.

By Teneshia LaFaye
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President Barack Obama’s $8,000 housing credit for new homeowners was supposed to expire at the end of November, but Congress has graciously extended it until April 30, 2010 and added an incentive for current homeowners.
The housing credit is something to be thankful for because home prices have fallen tremendously to offer great deals and to re-ignite a failing housing market. And the credit extension enables people who are building a home to relax through the three to six month new construction process.
First-time homebuyers get up to an $8,000 credit that can be used for a down payment and closing costs, and current homeowners get up to $6,500 toward the purchase of another home if they have lived in their home for at least five years.
The $8,000 first-time homebuyer credit came in handy for me in because I was able to replenish my savings account after nearly depleting it from putting up a down payment and closing costs, paying off credit card debt and going on several vacations.
Click here for more information on the housing credit.

I don’t understand why people who are broke just stick with the same job that’s keeping them broke.
It also boggles my mind when people have been laid off by one corporation and then go work for another corporation that eventually lays them off.
Why keep doing the same thing that is leading to your financial doom?
Albert Einstein said,” Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”
Get your sanity back by doing something different.
Try a different career. Take a leap of faith on a new opportunity.
Ten percent of Americans are unemployed as a result of corporations and small businesses laying off thousands because of the worst recession since the Great Depression, and many of these laid off workers are still looking for another corporation to hire them. But they don’t realize that they’ll be in the same situation — laid off struggling to get by — when the next recession hits.
So do something different. Be willing to change.
For instance, when the last recession hit in 2001, I was a successful sports writer for my hometown newspaper, and I was making a good salary, nearly $40,000 per year and I wasn’t even 25 years old yet.
But I was barely making ends meet and never had money to shop or travel. In between paychecks, I wrote checks at the supermarket for gas money and I went to cash advance places on payday for more money to pay the bills.
I got tired of being broke and never being able to travel, so I decided to do something different. I quit my job and I’ve been working on commission for the last five years.
Working on commission has allowed me to vacation in Alaska, Beverly Hills, the Bahamas and other places that I couldn’t afford to go with a regular job. And recently, I’ve been able to build my first house in the midst of millions losing their houses to foreclosures and short sales.
All because I decided to take a leap of faith and leave my cushy job for a new opportunity that has now changed my life.
If you’re tired of being broke and being laid off by company after company, check out this new opportunity that I’m a part of.

By Teneshia LaFaye

I recently wrote a book with my teenage son to put high school students and college students on the right financial track. In our book, What My Mom Taught Me About Money, teens and young adults learn about checking accounts, credit scores, credit cards, cash advances, investing and more. Preview or buy What My Mom Taught Me About Money here. The book also is available on amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

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Haiti-born music producer Wyclef Jean was one of the few people to speak at length about the late Michael Jackson’s influence during the supposedly all-night BET Awards tribute to the King of Pop on Sunday.
Then, at the end of his acceptance speech for BET’s Humanitarian Award, Wyclef looked up at the Shrine Auditorium’s balcony and told fans they have no excuse for not succeeding in life.
“I went from a hut, to the projects, to a mansion,” the former Fugee said with conviction. “You have no excuse.”

Wyclef is right. Many people are blaming the global recession, being laid off from a job and adjustable rate mortgages that made their house note unaffordable, but the excuses need to stop.
Wyclef grew up in poor surroundings in Haiti, and now he’s making millions in music and acting.
Michael Jackson was raised with eight siblings in a tiny house in Gary, Ind., but amassed a half billion-dollar estate that included his 2,500-acre Neverland Ranch before his untimely death at the age of 50 last week.

I got pregnant with my first child when I was 16, and now I’m the No. 1 insurance agent for my employer, I’m an author and I’m a first-time homebuyer.
We’re not lucky and we’re not any more special than you are. The reason for all of our success, and the success of those you admire, is we didn’t except our circumstances. We didn’t make excuses. Instead, we were motivated by our circumstances and used our talents to make lemonade out of lemons.
If you’re struggling and complaining about your situation, do something about it. You have no excuse.
You have a skill that only you were made to use, and you need to figure out what that is and use it to the maximum.
I would also recommend having multiple income streams. Wyclef, 36, has money flowing in from his career as a singer, songwriter, producer, actor and musician (guitar, drum, piano). However, his $1.4 million waterfront Miami mansion was foreclosed on, and he says he has a new mansion.

Michael Jackson’s estate is valued at $576 million from a record-setting solo career, ownership of the 750,000 Sony/ATV Music Publishing catalog worth $390 million and $20 million in cars. But the $331 million he owed will be deducted from his assets, leaving more than $200 million for his mother and three children.
I also have multiple income streams from being an insurance agent, writing books and web hosting. I also had a lot of debt and most Americans do for spending more than their take-home pay. But now my debts are small and I budget and save my money.
I was unemployed when I started out selling insurance on commission, and I squandered a lot of money before taking it upon myself to learn how to budget and save my earnings. Now I’ve used my experience to pursue my book writing career and to create a couple web sites, such as www.mytensense.com, for additional income and to spread my knowledge to help others.
So you need to start that business and get in on that other opportunity you’ve put off and be open to listen to money-making opportunities that come your way.
Of course, it’s not how much you make, it’s how much you keep. So make sure to learn about budgeting, saving and investing, so you never have to feel vulnerable because you have no money.
I should know because I screwed up big-time with money, but now I have good credit, money saved and a brand new house on a big lot. I have used my experience to co-write a book, What My Mom Taught Me About Money, with my 15-year-old son that teaches high school students, college students and young adults to form good financial habits. The book will be available on Amazon.com, Borders.com, and thousands of sites in 30-45 days, but you can purchase a copy now right here on my publisher’s site.
Just like I had no excuse to fail after a teen pregnancy, you also have no excuse to remain in whatever situation you’re in.

By Teneshia LaFaye

Buy a limited edition I Was There, King of Pop Commemorative Journal featuring many of these stories to remember the positive side of Michael Jackson’s life. The journal went on sale at the pop icon’s public memorial in L.A., and a limited supply is left over. Don’t let this moment pass you by. Get the journal while supplies last as a keepsake for MJ’s passing with spaces for your personal experience and pictures.

To receive your copy, please send $8 per copy in cash or money order to King of Pop Journal, 3832-10 Baymeadows Rd., Suite 205, Jacksonville, FL 32217 and make sure your name and address is on the envelope.

Or you can buy now for $7.35:

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My publisher just informed me that the book I co-wrote with my teenage son came out today.
I’m so excited. The book, What My Mom Taught Me About Money, is geared toward teaching high school students, college students and young adults about properly managing money. My son, whose pen name is Darian Demetri, wrote the first half of the book for teenagers, and I wrote the second half for young adults.
My son and I have a lot of applicable, real-world financial knowledge after he watched me rise from bouncing checks almost every day, having too poor credit to get approved for anything and no money to go on trips to our current well-off lifestyle despite the global recession.
I got pregnant with Darian, 15, who writes for his teen celeb gossip site, when I was 16. However, I still graduated high school with honors and graduated college four years later with a journalism degree. I had a newspaper job and was on the payroll a whole month before my college graduation from the University of Florida.
But it wasn’t smooth sailing because I mismanaged my paycheck as a sportswriter. I’ll never forget going into a pawn shop for a cash advance after landing my dream job at my hometown newspaper, and one of the store clerks recognized me from my weekly sports column. Very embarrassing, and it took me a couple years to stop getting cash advances. Don’t get hooked onto cash advances. I write about the dangers of cash advances in my book.
I’ve learned my lesson. I have excellent credit. My first house will be completely-built a few weeks after my birthday, right around deceased King of Pop Michael Jackson’s birthday at the end of August.
My son finally gets to go on vacations and his classmates think he’s rich, but we’re just middle class although I’m doing well financially thanks to my successful health and life insurance career.
In the last three years, my son has visited Disney and Universal Studios in Orlando and L.A. He’s been to Alaska, New York, President Obama’s inauguration, the NBA Eastern Conference Finals and Hollywood, where he took a picture by the King of Pop’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Keep in mind that when I was struggling with money he had only been right up the road to St. Augustine a few times and on a middle school trip to Medieval Times in Orlando.
So it’s safe to say my son and I finally have the lifestyle we didn’t during the 11 years after I gave birth to him in high school. But I didn’t struggle because of teen pregnancy. I struggled because I didn’t know how to handle money. And that’s why we wrote this book.
Most people fail with money because the basics aren’t taught in grade school. So this book will get youngsters started out on the financial path.
What My Mom Taught Me About Money is now available on our publisher’s web site, and the book can be found on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and thousands of other online book stores in 30-45 days.

By Teneshia LaFaye
Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/teneshialafaye
Add me on Myspace: www.myspace.com/tlafaye