It’s hard to believe that 2017 is already here. Where did the time go? It’s going to take me a little while to transition from a (6) to a (7).
One thing is for sure though; millions of people around the world have already or are currently working on their resolutions for 2017. Yet many of us remain skeptical about making New Year’s resolutions because they often last as long as the turkey at my house for Christmas dinner. The Cambridge dictionary defines a new year’s resolution as, “ a promise that you make to yourself to start doing something good or stop doing something bad on the first day of the year.” I too fell into the group of skeptics; as year after year I would come up with these overzealous promises of what I would start or stop doing and of course I wouldn’t get very far.
In 2016, I changed my strategy and saw some great successes. Here is what I did:
One thing is for sure though; millions of people around the world have already or are currently working on their resolutions for 2017. Yet many of us remain skeptical about making New Year’s resolutions because they often last as long as the turkey at my house for Christmas dinner. The Cambridge dictionary defines a new year’s resolution as, “ a promise that you make to yourself to start doing something good or stop doing something bad on the first day of the year.” I too fell into the group of skeptics; as year after year I would come up with these overzealous promises of what I would start or stop doing and of course I wouldn’t get very far.
In 2016, I changed my strategy and saw some great successes. Here is what I did:
- I changed the name. Just the term New Year’s resolution itself can scare the living daylights out of some people. Come to think of it why would you wait until January 1st to change your bad habits anyway? I changed the name to, “Lorraine’s Plan for 2016.”
- I took a business approach. Business leaders take a look at the numbers at year end to determine what went well with the business and what can be improved upon. Based on that, a plan is set for the next year. My approach was similar. I am my business. I am my brand. What can I do to improve and grow in the coming year?
- I wrote it down. I can barely remember what I said yesterday, let alone be expected to remember come July, goals I set in January. That’s why research has shown that writing things down increases the likelihood that they will be achieved.
- I reviewed what I wrote periodically. It makes no sense to write something down and pack it away in your basement. Review it monthly, weekly, daily, and hourly- whatever works for you. Better yet, create a vision board. Add some pictures to gain a visual. If your goal is to grow your business in 2017, add a visual to remind you of your goal, as well as the reward that will accompany your success. See it, visualize it, achieve it!
- I set timelines for myself. Having timelines allowed me to stay on track and pace myself.