Why Not Trade Jinxed Resolutions for Sustainable Achievements for 2018?

We’re all familiar with those New Year resolutions that we make as we approach the forthcoming year.  We probably did it again during the past week or so and in the overall, they suffer a bad rap … or do they?  In the overall they can be seen as jinxed resolutions from the start.  Statistics reveal that the lion’s share of all resolutions are gone … kaput … by the end of the first week of January!

“Why” you ask?  Here are some of the key reasons:

• Setting them during the holidays often falls into the category of something we think we should be doing and then it’s pass the eggnog please
• They are often devised without any real sense of commitment or passion for whatever they are and …
• They tend to be built around things we think we should be doing rather than things that will take us closer to well, thought out and desired goals.

1. Goals we set should be of a reasonable size that make them realistic and attainable. Climbing any hill or mountain is accomplished taking a series of steps.  Achieving one’s goals is no different.

2. Goals need to be quite specific which enable them to be measurable. Rather than I will work out at the gym 4 times a week … I will work out Tuesday, Thursday. Saturday and Sunday for 60 minutes each time.  Rather than I am going to earn a raise and advance my position at work … I am going to find out what would be expected of me to warrant a raise and promotion at the company and then create the specific plan to do the needed learning and improvement.

3. Goals need to have personal meaning to you. Achievement of any goal needs to feed something important to us.  We need to understand the benefit that the accomplishment will bring.  Maybe it’s the ability to keep our job or maybe it’s a desire to have a more well-rounded life.  In some way it must feed something we value.

4. Goals are often achieved through a process of trial and error … not perfection! Our success in reaching an important goal is often accomplished through a series of steps and some of these will be missteps.  Still, there is beneficial learning that we will need and should value as we move toward our goals. 
   

5. Reward yourself for the progress you are making as you progress. Too often anything short of successful completion is considered a kind of failure.  Celebration before the ultimate goals is reached is looked upon as unwarranted emotion.  Not so.  Positive acknowledgement of where you have arrived is one shot in the arm that keeps us moving forward.
   

6. Find an ally to whom you are willing to be accountable. Making changes, regardless of how much one may want them, isn’t easy especially when the change bucks engrained habits of old.  Your change buddy can be a terrific asset to helping you accomplish what you want to do.

It’s safe to say that in our work lives, most of us have goals that we are expected to achieve in order to be considered a value and contributor to our organization.  These goals are often built around a specific plan involving steps that we need to take to get it done!  Treating our personal goals related to any and every aspect of our lives should be approached the same way.  Just resolving to replace our often jinxed New Year’s resolutions with a meaningful, measurable and reasonable plan will make a huge difference.

Here is a ‘must watch’ and brief video featuring a four-year-old child explaining “the problem with New Year resolutions“. It’s a “from the mouths of babes” moment that brings with it some simplistic wisdom.  It’s worth the 2 minute watch and just might be your motivator for the year’s goal planning.
Mike Dorman