With the New Year on the horizon lots of people are thinking about their resolutions.
Are you?
I’m not…but let me explain.
New Year’s resolutions are notorious for failure. Something like 95% of people don’t keep their “resolutions” beyond January. For many its not even two weeks.
Why would you want to be attached to something with such a pitiful success rate?
And it’s a bit ironic. A resolution is defined as:
- the act of resolving or determining upon an action, course of action, method, procedure, etc.
- a resolve; a decision or determination: to make a firm resolution to do something.
- the mental state or quality of being resolved or resolute; firmness of purpose
Yet this seems far removed from what anyone does with New Year’s resolutions.
To me, if you truly resolve to do something, there’s nothing that will stop you.
Yet I don’t think in terms of New Year’s resolutions. Another reason to avoid these is they’re so often airy-fairy. “I resolve to be a better person.”
What does that mean specifically? And if you can’t tell me, it ain’t gonna happen.
Instead I do take this time of the year to reflect and plan.
And by that I mean I’ve probably spent about 30+ hours doing so over the past two weeks.
Yes, over a full day!
Why?
Because doing so helps me to get to where I want to go.
How have I gotten so healthy and strong?
By doing this kind of thing. I’ve been doing this regular review and planning practice each year for probably about 8 years or so.
And then I take action on my plans and goals.
My physical training is one area I look at. But its not the only one. My businesses are another. So is my health. And my relationships.
In fact, EVERYTHING I want to see improved in some way is in here.
Simply because what gets tracked gets improved.
If you’d like to get better in 2015…your health, your strength, your whatever…don’t make some flimsy “resolution” and fail like the majority of the population out there.
Take some time to really give it some thought…
Reflect…
Review…
Envision…
Set Goals…
Engage Your Ideals…
Plan…
Understand What Stops You…and How to Overcome…
You do this and I guarantee you’ll be more successful.
Why?
Because its an ongoing process.
Even if you don’t hit every goal, you’re able to reflect and see why. You get great feedback and then you can make a better plan of action for the future next year.
I often learn more from my failures than my successes. And I’ll be sharing one of those big lessons regarding my training in an article soon.
It’s a year process but its also monthly process and a weekly process.
But that’s not all.
In my next post I’m going to share the determining factor that can really supercharge your success…
Note that I do this before the New Year happens. Forethought becomes foresight. In addition, I can begin to put the plans into action so that I have MOMENTUM when the year begins.
In fact I already crossed off one of my goals for 2015 this morning…
Comments
Greetings Logan!
This article is well written. You certainly hit on some key points in planning and defining its difference with “resolutions”.
Very encouraging and thanks,
Greg