Every year
at exactly this time, the articles and news stories begin building on the topic
of “New Year’s Resolutions”. Whether it’s a news reporter on the scene of a New
Year’s Eve party or someone warning us not to fall into the typical New Year’s Resolution
trap, it doesn’t matter who is writing the story; these are all reminders to
think about the things we want in life and how to make them happen.
Sadly
though, many people who make New Year’s Resolutions won’t achieve them. Why
not? They aren’t thinking about their
resolutions as goals. Resolutions won’t happen unless they are a turned into
goals that you are passionate about and you take actions to achieve them.
According
to a report by Psychology
Today, published on December 21, 2009, one of the most popular New Year’s
Resolutions is losing weight. If losing weight is something you resolve for in
2010, you’ll need to turn it into a goal by considering all of the actions
necessary to achieve it.
First,
you’ll want to ask yourself why. Why do you want to reach this goal? How many
pounds do you want to lose? What date would you like to reach this goal? What
exercise routine are you going to commit yourself to each day? How are you
going to change your eating habits? What will you eliminate, what will you add?
What resources are you going to use as support? Which people will you count on
for encouragement? What do you want to reward yourself with after you’ve lost
the weight? Write all of this down on paper, keep it with you and review it
daily.
Maybe your
goal involves your career. If you are
unhappy in your career and want to make a change in 2010, what kind of change
do you want to make? Do you want to move to a new position in your company? Do
you want to start your own company? What industry or title will make you happy?
What actions do you need to take to get you there? Which people and resources can
help you? Write this action
plan down on paper with a timeline.
To help you
stay focused along the way, I would suggest you create a trigger word that you
can use when you find yourself straying. It could be the words, “New Year’s Resolution”,
it could be “size 4”, or it could be “new job”.
Say it over and over and over again as you work on your action steps and
turn your resolution into goals and your goals into reality.
