Most people have fallen behind in accomplishing or have abandoned their 2006 New Year's resolutions. It's not too late to take 10 action steps to turn resolutions into accomplishments. The New Year starts today.
A New Year Begins Today There are 10 actions you can take to help turn your resolutions into achievements by the end of the year.
1. Make certain the goals you have set for 2006 are in fact realistic and attainable. They should be a real stretch, but reachable with your best efforts. It’s fine, for example, to resolve to win a big promotion, but it's not realistic to expect to make it all the way to the top in one leap.
If upon sober reflection any one or all of your resolutions seem unrealistic or if your career goals have changed, do not hesitate to make a new set of resolutions for the remainder of 2006. Begin a new year today.
2. Take a hard look of what happened to your resolutions in 2005. Learn from your accomplishments and failures.
3. Make a plan and work it. Quantify each goal. Be sure to include actions to be taken with deadlines, as well as practical ways to measure progress at least once each month.
4. Put unrelenting pressure on yourself to make progress toward your goals every day. Accept no excuses for failing to meet deadlines.
5. Treat your resolutions as a binding contract with yourself. Put the contract in writing. Post the document in a prominent place so it will be seen every day. (The bathroom mirror is a good place.) Share your resolves with other persons you respect.
6. Reward yourself for progress. Enjoy what you have accomplished.
7. Don't be discouraged by the sheer size of the challenges. Think of each resolution as a series of small, manageable tasks to be accomplished one by one.
8. Have a low tolerance for diversions. Permit them only if they are advancements toward achievements that are more important than the original goals.
9. Start now, this day. Don’t let the time slip by until it’s too late and another year has gone by – lost forever – without measurable progress toward our goals.
Take seriously this admonition from Marie Edgeworth: “There is no moment like the present. The man who will not execute his resolutions when they are fresh upon him can have no hope from them afterwards; they will be dissipated, lost and perish in the hurry and scurry of the world, or sunk in the sloth of indolence.”
10. Remember. Nothing provides greater rewards in terms of material benefits and peace of mind than having a set of goals and feeling at the end of each day that you have made your best efforts, according to a plan, to reach them.
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