A Great Time to Set New Goals

2012 is now here. It’s that time when everyone sets their New Year’s Resolutions and set’s forth to achieve them. Usually, a New Year’s Resolution centers around starting a new healthy habit or to discontinue a bad one. Quitting cigarettes or alcohol, losing weight, toning muscles, and curb impulse buying are among the top ones. Some of us actually do them, while most of us fail to hit the mark.

So what makes the difference between those who succeed at accomplishing their goals and those that don’t? Is it the person or the goal? Sometimes it’s both.

Problems with the Resolution Itself

Many times a person will state a New Years Resolution but leave it vague, unrealistic, or based on results. Lets take a look a each of those problems:

Too Vague: If my new years resolution is “I want to lose weight”, that leaves a lot of open questions. How MUCH weight? What timeframe? HOW am I going to do it? The problem with this resolution is that it isn’t specific enough. It would be better to say “I want to lose 35 pounds by June 1st, 2011 by eating healthy, drinking lots of water, and daily exercise.” This statement gives you the WHAT, WHEN, and HOW the resolution is going to be achieved. A goal that is vague and not specific is nothing more than a wish.

Unrealistic: If my new years resolution is to “Win the Lottery”, “Lose 100 lbs in 3 weeks”, or “Sell my house for profit by the end of the month” then I’m just asking for failure. These goals are unrealistic because they too dependent on outside circumstances beyond your control. You cannot MAKE the lottery machine spit out the correct numbers. You cannot force your body to lose 100 lbs in 3 weeks (not the correct way anyhow), and while it might be POSSIBLE to sell your house for profit by the end of the month, it’s highly IMPROBABLE. Ask yourself what’s more likely? Is it more likely that you’ll burnout trying to lose too much weight too fast than actually succeed? Is it more likely you’ll sell your house for profit if you don’t rush the process than if you took the first offer than came along? Is it likely that you’ll win the lottery at all? Make sure your goals are firmly rooted in reality and based on things you can actually control.

Based on Results: Some goals focus on the end results instead of the means to which you can get those results. For example, if your goal was to “Sell $500,000 worth of product”, that is focusing on the results you want. Results are consequences of your actions. Getting sales is a consequence of making sales calls right? So if you were to focus on the actions you take (such as making more sales calls), then you would naturally increase your results. So a good goal in this case would be “This year I’m going to increase the number of sales calls I make to 35-50 a day”. A different example would be “For the next three months I’m going to do the P90X workout routine”. Focus on the actions only and then the natural consequences of those actions will follow.

Even if people can make a well established goal, there is still one obstacle they need to overcome: Themselves.

Personal Blocks to Achieving Your Goal

Many times…the roadblocks to accomplishing a goal or resolution are rooted in FEAR, BELIEF, and a LACK of planning. Even if your goal is reasonable, realistic, well thought out, and worth the effort, there still may be a part of you that is afraid to take the first step.

Before you even take your first step, you have to believe in your own success. If you don’t believe that you can lose the weight, quit cigarettes, or pay off the debt, then it just won’t happen. So first you have to believe that it is possible to accomplish. You’ve known people who have accomplished the goal, so you know it’s possible. Next.. you have to believe that it is possible FOR YOU to accomplish. Visualize yourself doing the ACTIONS that will take you to a completed goal. See yourself winning and feel now what it feels like to win in the future. Sometimes, your belief is all you need to motivate you to success.

Sometimes a goal never gets achieved because you never take the first step. Usually when procrastination rears it’s ugly head it is due to a FEAR of some kind. Here are some common fears:

Fear of failure, Fear of success, Fear of looking like an idiot, Fear of stepping out of your comfort zone, Fear of people leaving you, Fear of growth, Fear of gain, Fear of being hurt, Fear of death, and the biggest one: Fear of the unknown.

Many people fear the unknown more than they fear death. Strange isn’t it? We will continue to do things that are harmful to us, because we are resistant to the making change and face the unknown. But once you do… the unknown becomes known and it really isn’t so scary.

Whatever fear is blocking you from succeeding with your goal. Face it instead of delaying the start of your journey. When you feel the fear…acknowledge it and continue walking the path anyway. Pretty soon you’ll get over the fear.

Lastly…another block to achieving your goal is a lack of planning and preparation. You can’t succeed at a goal unless you have setup the environment for success. If your goal was to run a marathon in July and you signed up for it, but then did not start training for it, you won’t be prepared when the day comes. You can’t build anything without plans… and you can’t succeed at your goal until you have the right environment and the right mindset.

So..it all comes down to the final questions. Whatever your New Years Resolution is:

Is it Specific?
Is it Realistic and Attainable?

Before you get started remember to BELIEVE that YOU can achieve the goal, acknowledge your fears about it, and set up your environment.

What are your New Years Resolutions and what are your FEARs in relation to them?

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