Well now it’s 2008. A year full of promise, a year filled with love, health, wealth, fitness, joy, happiness and anything else you could wish for. This is the time of the year when people all over the world decide to change their lives forever. It’s time for resolutions, New Years Resolutions that is. A time of year when everyone, everywhere, believes that their wishes and dreams will come true. So how are your New Year’s resolutions going? According to a survey (conducted by Franklin Covey) of the New Year’s resolutions of over 15,000 people, the top 3 resolutions for 2008 are:
1. Get out of debt or save money
2. Lose weight
3. Develop a healthy habit (such as regular exercise and/or healthy eating)
Sounds familiar? Well, the same survey also found that 35% of people break their resolve by the end of January, but wait, it gets worse. Of all those New Year’s resolutions, 78% don’t come to fruition.
That’s right, 78% fail! That doesn’t give you much hope, does it? So why do all these perfectly good resolutions just fall by the wayside, year after year? It’s the same reason why every goal, from quitting smoking to getting to work on time, has never been met.
We failed to plan, and failing to plan is planning to fail.
How can you expect to get from your current position to your destination (whatever it is) if you’ve never been there before? That is just asking for all sorts of problems, which leads to frustration and the problem of motivations. For a plan to work, there are a few key areas that need to be addressed.
1. Write it down!
Your goals must be reinforced. EVERY DAY, so put them somewhere you can see them (perhaps on the fridge or on your nightstand). This will form a constant reminder and reinforce your goal in your mind.
2. Inform others.
Be sure to inform others of your goal. This works for two reasons. The first is that you must be accountable to someone other than yourself. Second, and more important, is the support and encouragement of having family and friends behind you at all times. This last point cannot be stressed enough; the value of support in the pursuit of any ambition has been researched and widely recognized as an integral part of reaching your goal.
3. Change your thinking, attitude and beliefs.
Your thinking, attitude and beliefs are extremely important as they affect the decisions you make and the things you do or don’t do. A goal is nothing without a need, a desire, or an emotional reason behind it. You can be told what to do, why to do it, and even shown how to do it, but no one can force you to do it if you don’t want to. Do you want it, do you really want it?
4. Education or knowledge.
At this stage, you have written down your goals (you know exactly what you want and when you want it), you have established a network of support and motivation (point 2), you have a strong desire and need to achieve your goal, but do you know how to achieve that goal? objective? The plan may mean you buy a book, magazine, DVD, or hire someone to help you, like a dietitian or personal trainer.