There are a many reasons why these off-the-cuff resolutions fails, from being unrealistic, not thought through to simple things like you forget about them.
I’ve got a few tips which I’ve accumulated over the years through others. So in the spirit of new year sharing, here are 8 tips for achieving your goals in ‘09:
1. “New Year Resolutions” out!
Use ‘goals’ instead which is applicable all year long and aren’t as spontaneous as new year resolutions.
2. Know yourself
Probably the most important tip. Know what you want, your strengths, weaknesses, your priorities and what you want to achieve in the short, medium and long term. It’s all about you and what you want to do with your life.
3. Set realistic goals
Nothing worse then setting yourself up for failure. Make sure your goals are realistic and achievable (without being a walk in the park). One of my goals last year was to lose 3kg. Depending on your weight this might be unrealistic or too easy. Keep the number of goals realistic too, no point in having 100 goals to achieve. You won’t be able to track them all.
4. Set milestones
Understand there will be goals which will take a long time to achieve and those which take longer. My personal preference is to have 3 month, 1 year and 3 year goals, with between 3 – 5 goals in each category.
5. Monitor your progress
a great way to tick off the goals you’ve achieved and see how far you’ve come. It also helps you to re-group to achieve the outstanding goals as well as modify and change according to your situation.
6. Run your race at your pace
They’re your goals, do it your way. If you’re a visual person, use a large sheet of paper and draw your goals if it helps. Or if technology turns you on, try a free online tool like joesgoals developed by Ian Smith, which tracks your progress each day. And because it’s online you can check your progress anywhere with internet.
According to Kristy Dunphey, who retired at 27yo, you can use technology to help you achieve your goals or even can just as easily use a card file system . Kristy’s idea is great; put each goal on an index card, which gives you room to write updates and changes. You can keep completed goals in the same box to remind you of your successes - even pictures or other evidence to remind you.7. Out of sight is out of mind
Make sure those goals are top of mind. I have my 3 month, 1 year and 3 year goals summarised in a little table and stuck up in front of my computer both at home and at work as well as on my filing cabinet. And when I achieve a goal, I physically strike that goal out.
8. See the positives
Don’t be too hard on yourself, of my 3 month goals last year, I achieved 2 out of 3. I can be disappointed that I did not achieve all 3, but I chose to celebrate the achievement of 2 out of 3 goals. The remaining goal, I’ve added to this year’s list.
Setting goals has really made a difference in my life. I’m a healthier, more balanced person.
And I’ve seen them shape success for others, most recently in my partner who has landed both a book deal with a major book publisher and a Phd scholarship.
I can see now how having goals sets your life’s direction and purpose and how remarkably easy it is to achieve something once you commit it to paper and keep it top of mind.
Good luck for ’09 and I hope these 8 simple tips might help in some small way to a more rewarding and satisfying new year!
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