Hello Hello!
A whopping 40% of us (or so) make New Year Resolutions – and according to the University of Scranton research about 8% succeed! What a statistic.
After 6 months here is what it looks like – 46% still hanging in there. Most are giving up and no longer believing they can do it; they abandon their optimism as bumps in the road pop up.
What makes the difference? Who succeeds and who does not? Well, it was found that people fail when goals/resolutions are not specific enough ( remaining in dream realm, they are general and nebulous), not visual and woven into the course of your days/life, and you no longer believe you can do it. Makes perfect sense doesn’t it?
So, make your resolutions specific, visual, ever-present and be sure to believe in your ability to achieve them.
To address these guidelines, answer these five questions – in writing – as honestly and completely as possible and watch 2015 become the year you live life at your highest and best – Your BEST year EVER!:
1. What specifically would I love to accomplish in 2015?
Before answering this question as specifically as is needed some pre-work needs to be done. For example, if you have a goal to be healthier, what do you need to do to accomplish this? How will you be measuring your achievements? If it’s financial goals, what are the specific monthly goals needed to achieve the yearly financial objective? If it’s to do with personal habits, how will you know, for instance, when you are more organized, accountable or kind?
Resolutions fail, goals are not met because people stay in the vague place of “I want to be more this or that” or “I want to stop doing this… or that.” They don’t cross over into specific action planning which is how our brain and nervous system functions best.
We are created to be goal oriented as every function in our body, brain and nervous system relies on specific things happening in specific intervals to have very specific outcomes.
We need to work with this automatic success system in order to be the “success mechanism” we were designed to be. We have to first see it clearly and specifically in our imagination.
So again, what specifically would you love to accomplish in 2015? Write your answer and review and edit it until it captures the fullness of your goals. Then be sure to imagine it daily.
2. How does accomplishing these goals add value to your life and to the lives of all those you touch?
Resolutions fail and goals are not met because people are not clear on the “why.” Sometimes we set goals that are not big enough, important enough or meaningful enough. If your specific goals don’t really add much value to your life or to the lives of those you touch, then maybe they’re not worth achieving?
Often people stop going after something because a deeper, knowing voice within is guiding them away from wasting their time. Make sure your goals are worthy of your time and they add value to your life.
Another way to pose this question is “how does accomplishing this goal, help me to fulfill my mission or purpose in life?”
3. What is my plan of action to achieve this (or these) goal?
Consider here the need for your goal to be broken down to monthly, weekly and daily action steps. Benchmarks must be set…what has to happen by March 31st and June 30th for your goal to be on track to completion? And in order for that happen what must I accomplish each month? Then of course what has to happen daily for the weekly and monthly benchmarks to be achieved? Break it all down to actionable, daily steps.
An essential part of the action plan must be accountability.
a. What’s your system for being held accountable for what you set out to do? Do you have a coach or accountability buddy? How about visuals – are there charts, signs, affirmations, organizers and other aids being built into your plan of action?
b. What about your resources – who will you be turning to for assistance and what will you be reading to ensure the best information is considered in your plan? The more robust the plan, the more rich the results.
c. When I break my goal down what must I complete each month in order to achieve my main goal?
d. What will I do to ensure my success with my action plan – what are my resources, how will I hold myself accountable, what are my benchmarks and how will I celebrate the achievements along the way?
4. When I think about achieving this goal, on a scale of 1-10, how excited am I?
You want a 10 if you truly intend to achieve this goal at the highest level possible!
If less than a 10, examine why that is. If the vision of achieving your goal fails to get you truly excited – heart pumping, emotionally exhilarated excited – then you are likely to give up when the going gets rough. Perhaps you have not considered the benefits of achieving your goal…how will you (and others) benefit?
Look at your answer to question #2 and visualize the outcomes that would add that value.
Sometimes we get all caught up in the work of achieving goals and neglect the human element – the pure excitement and joy of why we are doing what we’re doing each day. It’s this excitement that will have us jumping out of bed to attend to the details.
We have to love the means to the end…and if we don’t, we have to examine whether the goal is right for us or perhaps we may need to revisit our “why.”
Keeping that “why” (why are you doing this again?) clear and visual – posted all around you will help to keep you motivated and inspired, especially when the road gets a bit rocky. In life, it always gets a bit rocky from time to time. That’s the nature of life.
So either pump up the volume on your true excitement for achieving your goals or, change your goals to correspond with your purpose, mission and excitement for life.
5. How are you sure you really believe that you can achieve this goal?
This might sound simplistic, but seriously; stop and think about it. So often, goals are not reached because we sub-consciously sabotage our self with recurring thoughts and emotions that pull us down. Have you had the experience of wondering “why am I suddenly feeling so negative?” Bad feelings (which is how we often are derailed from our positive path), don’t just pop up out of nowhere. They come from something and somewhere: usually a place of disbelief and negativity. “Who am I to be trying to do this???” Self-doubt kills goals.
Examine your beliefs surrounding your goals…do you really, deeply believe your goals are attainable, positive and consistent with your other beliefs? Sometimes inconsistencies (in our beliefs) cause a lack of excitement and commitment to our goals.
When things are not in alignment time is wasted focusing on the roughness of the ride!
Fact is, if you don’t believe you can achieve your goal, you won’t. Much has been written on the importance of believing in our self as an essential first step in all achievement.
Wishing you an abundance of Joy and Productivity,
~♥~