New Year's resolutions are doomed before you start. Anyone who delays something until the start of a New Year is likely to abandon it before accomplishing it. There's nothing magical about New Years or any other date. When you are committed to doing something, start now, not later. M.J. Ryan, in her book This Year I Will (Broadway Books, New York, 2006) quotes statistics that approximately 45% of us make New Year's resolutions but only 8% succeed. Back in 1993 a St. Petersburg Times article reported on a study conducted in 1988 that tracked 200 people who made New Year's resolutions. Within a month, 55% had abandoned their resolutions. At the end of two years, only 19% had kept their promises. It's easy to get caught up in the emotion of the moment and make ourselves a lot of promises that we are not committed to keeping. We really haven't thought through the sacrifices or effort that might be required.
Replace New Year's resolutions with meaningful goals that reflect your commitments and follow the following five guidelines.
1. Be as specific as possible. David Niven, author of The 100 Simple Secets of Successful People (HarperOne, 2000) claims that people who construct their goals in concrete terms are 50% more likely to feel confident that they will attain their goals and 32% more likely to feel in control of their lives.
2. Put your goals in writing. If you cannot express your goal in writing you probably can't achieve it either. Putting it in writing tells your brain that you're serious about it and it goes to work identifying opportunities that will further your goal.
3. Put a deadline date on it. A goal without a deadline is like a check without a signature. If you are going to write a book, or clean the basement or lose ten pounds or save $5000 add a time frame to provide a sense of urgency and help you formulate your plan.
4. Be realistic. New Year's resolutions are in many cases just wishful thinking. Take into consideration your resources, including time, money and self-discipline and set goals that you really believe are attainable. Setting your sights too high simply gives you an excuse for quitting when the going gets rough.
5. Schedule time in your planner to work on your goals. Realize that nothing happens until you make it happen. Schedule the goal-related activities along with your business and personal priorities so you have set times to work on them.
New Year's resolutions have an exceptionally high failure rate because most of them lack the characteristics of effective goals such as those outlined above.
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