It's In The Stars

12 gift ideas to help someone make a fresh start in 2012

Many people’s New Year’s resolutions include goals such as losing weight, quitting smoking, or finding a partner.

If you have someone special in your life who needs a little help achieving a fresh start, you might find some great gift ideas here.

1. Help them quit smoking with hypnotherapy sessions from Melbourne-based Paul Brickhill, who offers a three-session gift certificate for $365.

2. After killer abs? A smaller waist? Treat them to Slendertone System Abs for men and women which uses electronic signals to stimulate muscle contractions in your body for $299.

3. Is your loved one a business owner with no time to spare? What about outsourcing the tedious and time-consuming job of creating a procedures or operations manual to Assisting You Virtually? From $195.

4. New parents – or perhaps those who are struggling with their children’s behaviour – may appreciate the Parent Manifesto, a 12-month online program with e-book for $47.

5. Keen to retire in 2013? How To Retire in 12 Months is the perfect book for those who want to enjoy their lives. Just $24.95 plus shipping and handling.

6. Learn how to manage your cashflow better, get rid of financial stress and get better deals with Money for Nothing. $24.95.

7. If your niece needs a little motivation, why not help her by purchasing a book or other gift from the SISTER2sister Foundation, where all proceeds will go to help support and mentor at-risk teenage girls facing destitution and isolation.

8. It’s not just women who feel under society’s pressure to look good. Men do too. Give your favourite man a fresh start with a gift certificate to Mankind in Surry Hills, NSW for skin treatments or a relaxing massage from $50.

9. Learn how to take off three months from your business by recruiting the right people and getting rid of the long ones in The Invisible Entrepreneur. Who doesn’t need a long holiday from work every now and then!

10. Wondering what’s going to happen next? What moves you should make? The best time to go after that job or if he or she is right for you? Find out with a personalised astrology phone consultation, from $79.

11. Cut down on litter and take your lunch to work (so much healthier and cheaper) with lunch boxes, containers and drink bottles from Ash n Juls.

12. If your parents or grandparents have become less mobile or a loved one is temporarily incapacitated, help them get fitter with the Move It or Lose It DVD of chair-based exercise.