Monday, December 28, 2009

Will I Reach My Goals in 2010?

New Years Resolutions; frankly, for many  people they are a waste of time. Why? Because so many of us resolve to be different, do things differently, think, feel, and live differently and so many of us wind up making short lived changes that rarely pan out. The result? Resolutions that repeat themselves each year. Think about what a waste that is. You resolve to be different or live differently and you spend a year not achieving the goal. You end up at December 31st ready to "try again."
As straight forward as the New Years resolution concept is, it's implementation is what trips people up. Most of us don't take the resolution seriously enough. We "say" we are going to do something- maybe lose weight, be more social, advance our career, etc.. and the reality is we have no game plan, we have no course of action and we believe that by committing to change, things will fall into place.. Well guess what- as we all have experienced, inspiration alone gets you no where.

Inspiration is the first step but many, many people fall off that cliff because they are only inspired and have nothing else. So this year before you make that resolution take a few minutes and put things in order...

Some simple points to consider:

1. What specifically do I want to achieve in 08? You have got to make it as detailed as possible-- so exercising, losing weight, advancing the career won't cut it. Going to the gym M,W,F at 6:30am, eating 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, contacting a head-hunter are all much more specific -- being specific will give you a clearer picture of what you actually will need to do.

2. Do a gut-check-- do I really want to do this? Don't kid yourself-- if your heart isn’t in it it's not going to happen-- it's better to be honest then to fail.

3. Don't shoot for the stars- shoot for success. We all have a tendency to bite off more than we can chew... Not a good move... The more successful you are the more likely you are to keep at it. Make the resolutions reasonable. Have short and long term goals. Success will foster success so start small and let that success factor propel you to the next challenge.

None of us wants to waste a year and we all have goals and dreams... Take this year's Resolution seriously and have a game plan and guess what? Next year won't be a carbon copy of this one...

Happy New Year

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