Maximinzing the Returns on Your Resolutions

The New Year is here. There is a sense of excitement and energy. A chance to hit the refresh button and have another go at it. If you are like me, you are optimistic about 2019, and have already, or are creating your goals for the year.

Creating goals is easy, achieving them requires effort, discipline and focus. There is hardly any better feeling then achieving our goals. That sense of accomplishment and fulfillment is euphoric. To say, ‘I dreamed it, I planned it and I achieved it!’.

Resolutions are good, but it takes resolve and commitment, a long term view to really hit our targets. With the right clarity and focus we can do that in 2019.

I want to share three things that will help you achieve your goals this coming year.

Have a Clear Picture

Zig Ziglar said 'if you aim at nothing you will hit it every time.’

This is true. Goals cannot be be vague. They must be specific and clear. This is often the reason we don’t reach our goals, because we do not have a clear view of what we are after.

Think about what it is you are trying to accomplish. Visualize it. Picture it in your mind, and then be sure to write it down and keep it visible. Be specific. Don’t just say 'lose weight’ or 'make more money’. Say, ‘lose 10 pounds’, and ‘make $10,000 more this year’.

It is important to take time and think through what your target is.

It is also important to be able to recognize what the achieved goal looks like. The more detailed you get, the more clarity you have on the target, and thus the more likelihood you will achieve it.

Have Controlling Principle

'If resolution is the locomotive principles are the train tracks’

A resolution, or desire is one thing. Principle is another. Often our resolutions have to do with hangups, or habits that have crept in and debilitated our productivity. So we resolve not to do it again, and then guess what.. we do. It happens to all of us. That is why we need something bigger and deeper than just a resolution, we need something to keep us going when we have setbacks. A bigger picture and framework to guide our efforts.

Principle is defined as :a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behaviour or for a chain of reasoning.

You see the strength of principles there? It gives a foundation for our behavior. We need something more than wanting to stop doing things, or a desire to be better. We need foundational guidelines to live by that shape our behavior. Behavior modification might help for a little bit. But Behavior transformation gives lasting growth. So we want transformation more than modification.

To reach your goals, you need to ask yourself. Who am I? What matters most to me and why? What sort of foundational principles do I want to live by? These questions are daunting, especially if you have never considered them. But I encourage you to ask them. When you know what you are about, what matters most to you, it gives you the ‘why’, which you will go to in the challenging times.

Also, keep it simple. There is no need to complicate this, that would be counter productive. So get out a a pen and paper and start answering these questions. As you do, the process of getting clarity will start to develop, as well as a deeper sense of purpose and vision for your life.

Principles will keep you on target and protect you from getting involved in things that will ultimately harm you.

Have a Clear Plan

Define a clear picture and then design a clear plan

Goals need guidelines. Having an idea or desire is great, the big vision is inspiring and motivating. But we have to then ask, how do we get from here to there, and how will we measure it along the way and know we have made it.

We need a clear goal that is attainable and identifiable. We cannot be vague here. We need to say, I want (this) and it looks like (this). We can all say we want to be a better spouse or parent, that is easy, but we have to have a way to identify what that looks like, something concrete and tangible.

For instance, I want to be a better Father. I might say, that means I am involved in my son's life and am part of his development into the kind of man and person I want him to be. What does that look like for me? How do I achieve that? It might mean, weekly dad time with my son where he has my full undivided attention. Learning crafts or going on trips with him and so on. The point is, that I have a vision of being a good father and ways to identify it.

A goal needs a plan. Get strategic. Think big picture and then execute. If you don't have a plan, you will find yourself sort of wandering around with a goal, with no way of knowing how to achieve it.

Trust me, it is really not that complicated, it just takes the time to sit down and think it through and then revisit it strategically and periodically to measure your progress.

Let me say again, keep it simple. Enjoy it and let it inspire you.

Heres to a great and productive 2019