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How To Keep New Years Resolutions: 5 Goal Setting Tips

“What am I doing? Where am I going?

There’s got to be more to life than this!….”

New Years resolutions spring up from our attempts to answer such tricky questions.

I won’t pretend to know the answers, but I can share 5 goal setting tips on how to keep New Years resolutions. After all, the quickest New Years resolutions to be broken are usually quickly formed, poorly thought out goals.

Goal Setting Tip 1 - Once a year is enough, thanks!

It’s healthy to ask big questions about where your life is going, but ask them too often and you’ll end up in a bog of directionless despair. Take the pressure off, and only ask the big questions once, or at most, twice a year.

Goal Setting Tip 2 - 7 is the magic number

George Miller, a 1950’s psychologist, proposed that we can only deal with 7 bits of information at any one time. Any more information and we need to group things into more memorable, manageable chunks. So when you create your New Year master plan, keep goals down to a manageable number and group similar areas.

Goal Setting Tip 3 - I say tomayto, you say tomaato - let’s call the whole thing off!

A common mistake when setting goals, is in-sufficient detail. This can cause problems when we need to articulate these goals to work mates, life partners or even to ourselves. As an example of why this is important when goal setting, think of a house.

I have a particular house in mind, which is probably entirely different to the house you’re picturing. Is your house made of brick or wood? How many rooms does your house have?

Is your house full of people or are you the sole resident? Imagine the arguments if we had the joint goal of buying a house together!

Keep New Years resolutions by writing your goals in enough detail for everyone to understand and agree what’s meant. So if your goal is to buy a house, put some flesh on the bones by saying your goal is to buy a 3 bedroom house, with garden, near work, for no more than 3 times your salary.

Goal Setting Tip 4 - Keep it real!

You are more likely to achieve realistic goals. That’s not to say you can’t shoot for the stars and pursue your dreams; break up your mega goal into smaller, more manageable mini goals, and you’re more likely to achieve your dream.

Goal Setting Tip 5 - Fantastic fibbing

Here’s an unusual game to play. Start a conversation with a friend, family member or hijack someone from the street. Tell them they are going to help get your life on track, and all they have to do is ask a few choice questions.

Start to tell them the story of, for example, your New Years resolution to find and start your dream job. Tell them what it’s like in the studio or office, the people you work with and meet as part of your job, what your daily schedule looks like. Get them to ask you questions about how you got there e.g. how did you get the interview, who spotted your business card, etc.

This is where you will be put on the spot and have to come up with plausible answers. Aim to “keep it real” with your answers, e.g. don’t rely on winning the lottery to fund your plans! Keep this conversation going as long as possible, with as much detail as you can muster.

This might sound like complete madness, telling fantastic fibs or untruths about how you achieved you New Years resolution. The truth is that the questions they ask will forge links in your mind, creating a map that make it easier for you to achieve your long term goal. Just make sure you write down the steps you took to achieve your goal!

Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail

I hope these 5 goal setting tips show you how to keep New Years resolutions and achieve your goals. Follow this link for a more detailed goal setting guide, including examples and templates to ensure you achieve your goals.

By Lyndsay Swinton

It is said that every cloud has a silver lining and that there’s always light at the end of the tunnel. Why should we wait to get to the end of the tunnel before we see the light?

We should always live with the BELIEF that there’s light all around us, and not just at the end of the tunnel. The best time to realize this fact is during any festive period, and I personally feel that all festivals are the best period of hopes.

Many households take pains to save that little extra so that they can splurge on a decent celebration. Buying new clothes for the kids gives parents immense pleasure because they can see the joy on the little faces. Isn’t that what we all hope to see on children’s faces - the bright, beaming smiles stemming from genuine love and gratitude?

The whole family takes great pride in sprucing up the house for the occasion. New curtains are hung with matching cushion covers, vases are filled with flowers, carpets are beaten and washed, new table cloths are bought and in some cases the house is given a new coat of paint.

When the children are happy, the family scene automatically brightens up. The family is able to set aside whatever difficulties they may be facing, for that one day at least, and get into the celebrative mood.

Even in the poorest corners of the world, we get to see images of semi naked, street children celebrating Christmas with sparkles in their hands and the biggest of smiles. That to me is hope.

Hope that not all is doom and gloom. There is much hope out there and much to hope for as well. If we focused our energies into obtaining a better quality of life there’s no reason why we shouldn’t achieve it.

I believe this is why we lit the lights for just about any festival. The light itself acts as a symbol of hope for better things to come. It is believed that light empowers us to commit ourselves to good deeds.

How we celebrate festivals may differ in many ways, but what remains true and constant is that festivals are the celebration of life, its enjoyment and goodness.

Merry Christmas To You…..and all……

I read enthusiastically this article titled Enable Your Success: Create A Powerful Vision, by Chuck Kocher yesterday evening while waiting for my kids to finish their homework. Being in a mood to read all these motivating, inspiring articles makes me wonder if I am living life to the fullest, seriously, and till the end of this article I have the answer.

This article is very conversational type and it looks at you like it is trying to tell you to start taking action, immediately! I have picked some lines from the article, here and there, to make it short, enjoy reading it, it might help you too.

Have you ever found yourself wondering, “Where am I really going with my life, my career or my business?” Do you ever feel that your passion, energy and attitude are just not what they used to be? Do you sense a need for change but you are not really sure what to do? Do you finally want to take control of your destiny and your life?

At one point of our lives, most of us have asked these questions or ourselves. But the biggest question of all is what did you do about it - or what are you going to do about it? Sadly enough, most people dream but never really do anything more than that.

You see, you - and only you - control the keys to your destiny. Creating a powerful vision is the start of it all and will set your life in forward motion toward success. It will unlock your energy, attitude and passion.

In life, we will have many choices to make. We can choose to be reactive or be proactive. Do you want to set the course for your life, or do you want to simply follow a pre-destined map?

You and you alone control how you think. Our mind is the most powerful asset we have.

Creating A Powerful Vision

1. You need to paint a picture of the future that is vivid and colorful. You can leave no detail unturned.
2. You will need to see yourself in your vision.
3. You will also need to feel what it is like to be in your vision.

Six Essentials for Actualizing your Powerful Vision

1. The Plan

• Have a comprehensive plan
• Your plan must have specific goals that are measurable and achievable.
• Have significant goals and objectives, that will move you closer to your vision.

2. Trusted Advisors

• You must have experts to offer you counsel and advice.

3. Find A Mentor

• Find someone who has been there and done it in your industry or related field.
• Don’t forget to learn from the mistakes that they made along the way.

4. Jury of your peers

• Create a network or group of peers that you can consult with on a periodic basis.
• Open an honest feedback from a peer group is a fantastic way to learn.

5. Flawless Execution

• Commit yourself to flawless execution of your plans.
• A comprehensive plan is a requirement.
• Have an action plan that enables execution.
• Execution will make or break your vision.
• The devil truly lies in the details of execution!

6. Embrace Continual Learning And Change

• A vision is not static, but dynamic. You will change and it will change.
• Be ready and embrace change.
• Be a voracious learner.

CAUTION! Seven Vision Killers.

Creating a powerful vision is one thing - actualizing it is another. There are many obstacles that you will face in actualizing your vision. However, the biggest obstacle that you may actually face might just be you.

The following are the personal vision killers that we see time and time again:

1. Procastination/Indecision - I will eventually make my decision…
2. Lack of total Commitment/Focus - The grass is always greener…
3. Self-belief/Confidence - I just can’t do it!
4. Fear of failure and/or success - This is really just an excuse not to be successful!
5. Knowing it already - If you stop learning, you stop growing and stop living!
6. Trying to do it all yourself - Why would anyone in their right mind try to do it all themselves?
7. Dream, dream, dream - Always living in the future and never making it happen in the present!

YOUR NEXT CHALLENGE…..

If you really want to change, you can. But first, you must have the desire to and then commit to do so. So I challenge you to take control of your destiny, create a powerful vision and start on the journey to success in your career, your business and your life!

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