Software for Success: Websites to Help You Achieve Your Resolutions

In light of the new year, I thought I'd investigate some goal-oriented software programs and websites. It's amazing how many are available! Any goal is viable, whether it's losing weight or serving your company better. I encourage everyone to explore these insightful, helpful programs.

Life Tango: I particularly appreciate the operative word on the homepage, "someday." I frequently use the phrase, "maybe someday..." when I refer to things I would like to do, obtain or see. Of course, my son hates this phrase because he wants to do everything now. But, "someday" is a positive thought, and certainly better than it's opposite, "Never, ever!"

This site offers visitors the ability to do so much - you can brainstorm about activities you would like to do, places you would like to see, information you would like to learn, people you would like to meet, and more. Users can create and document goals, and track them online. The site offers challenges that you may choose to add to your personal goal list, which ensures that you're never without ideas for new, exciting ambitions. Also, you can partner with friends or other Life Tango users to track your progress together.

There is also an entire tab dedicated to motivation, which is paramount in achieving any goal. The site offers advice, keys to success, and ways to track your milestones so that success is achievable. Anyone who is a member of the procrastinator's club should join this site! It's free to join and takes less than one minute to sign up.

8Goals: This is another free, user-friendly website that offers a quick and simple registration process. 8Goals encourages users to sit down, set goals, and accept assistance in changing their lives forever. Although this may sound like a lofty objective, what do you have to lose? One mouseclick walks you through five simple steps in getting started on the site - and they really are simple. This site also offers goal-progress charts, which are especially beneficial for visually oriented users. In addition, 8Goals focuses on lifetime goals, which promotes "big-picture" goal-setting.

From a technical standpoint, this site is clean, simple to use, and effective. 8Goals accepts donations, an option that is solicited on the bottom of every page with an unobtrusive button. However, this doesn't interfere with the user's experience.

Wesabe: This is an extremely useful website that focuses on easy and free ways to manage your money. What's more, creating an account on Wesabe is also free and easy! So many financial-management sites either want to take more of your money or they make you feel like you've poured all of your finances down the drain. However, this site is completely different; it focuses on helping you manage your money - not spend it on their expert advice. Wesabe has also received glowing reviews from Esquire Magazine, Reader's Digest and Kiplinger's publications.

Nevertheless, setup for a full experience on this site is lengthy, as you need to connect to your bank and download statements, enter credit card information, and more. Fortunately, the data-gathering page of the site is prefaced with "https," which means it is secure. Arguably, the only way to fully obtain individualized help with your finances is to enter personal information so it can be analyzed. However, if you're not comfortable with this option, the site is still useful. Visitors can receive advice from the community, gain insights from their tips, and view cost comparisons on everything from retail to insurance. Personally, I really appreciate all that this site has to offer. If one of your New Year's resolutions is to better manage your finances, you'll certainly want to check Wesabe out.

Whether your New Year's resolution is better financial management, losing weight or embarking upon a new hobby like skydiving, check out the many online resources that may help you in your endeavors.