Don’t confuse New Year resolutions with goals. I have read and heard thousands of New Year Resolutions over my life time. Consider this…95% of them all fit in one of four categories:
- I am tired of being Fat
- I am tired of being Poor
- I no longer want to be Stupid
- I now want to do something Exciting before I die
In most cases resolutions make us feel better for 7 days or less then reality sets in when we have to make choices that are unpleasant. Well maybe next year we say wink wink... Goals go deeper and can be long lasting because they are adaptable and flexible. Goals become stepping stones to your future rather than your future. Goals initiate action which always produces results beyond just hoping. My challenge to you is to get beyond resolutions by setting a pathway for real results in your life by setting meaningful goals.
For example, no one would walk up to an Airline ticket counter and say “please give me a ticket.” To where would be the natural response of any professional receiving such a request. Of course it sounds ridiculous and so does living and working without goals.
Knowing where you are going is critical to you arriving. Vision and mission give us a destination and a purpose. Goals give us steps to achieve our vision and mission. Goals take us from our current reality and transform us to our future potential in helping us fully understanding what could be and should be regardless what is. Goals give us hope and encouragement when we are most discouraged and are tempted to lower our expectations.
Goals should be set in all areas of life. (Family, work, mental, physical, financial, social, spiritual, community) To become a well rounded individual progress and growth should be obtained in each of the above life areas. When was the last time you did an analysis in each of the above mention areas? I dare you to look at your check book over the last year and determined where you spent your money, in fact, to make this more real color code each check entry, or produce a bar graft to determine in which life area you spent or invested the most dollars.
I encourage each of us to set goals for the New Year and check on them regularly to determine progress. Remember when setting goals apply the tried and true method in using the acrominum SMART:
S—specific is it clears
M—Measurable easy and obvious
A—Attainable or realistic ask for professional advice, remember big steps start with small steps
R— Relevant to you! Few if any others will really care
T—Timetables that are reasonable
If It Is To Be It Is Up To Me! My favorite ten two letter words.
John Rodgers,
CEO JR Rodgers and Associates, a Dale Carnegie franchise
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