Tweet

Guide Yourself With Strong Resolutions

Guest post by: Pete Brand

Article Overview: Here we are again at the time of the year when we've spent time reviewing the previous year, and in this case ... decade. It's now time to chart out what you'll focus on for the coming year. Have you taken the time to create your New Year's resolutions? Are you one of those people who just don't believe in making resolutions? Or ... Are you the person who won't tell anyone because you're pretty sure you won't follow them anyhow and don't want to embarrass yourself. This year I took special care in setting my resolutions. I used the fact that we transitioning from one decade to another as a reason to spend more time and effort reflecting and planning for the coming year. I have to admit I've typically come up with resolutions like the following .... "I will lose 20 pounds." or "I won't eat fast food."

Guide Yourself With Strong Resolutions

Here we are again at the time of the year when we've spent time reviewing the previous year, and in this case ... decade. It's now time to chart out what you'll focus on for the coming year. Have you taken the time to create your New Year's resolutions?

Are you one of those people who just don't believe in making resolutions?

Or ...

Are you the person who won't tell anyone because you're pretty sure you won't follow them anyhow and don't want to embarrass yourself.

This year I took special care in setting my resolutions. I used the fact that we transitioning from one decade to another as a reason to spend more time and effort reflecting and planning for the coming year.

I have to admit I've typically come up with resolutions like the following ....

"I will lose 20 pounds."

or

"I won't eat fast food."

This year I was determined to come up with resolutions that were far more significant than I'd ever come up with in the past. I decided I wanted to come up with guiding statements that I could use to keep me on course for longer than the 30 days most people stay on course.

I normally keep my resolutions to myself since nobody really cares anyhow. This year, however, I'd like to share them with you for a couple reasons.

First of all, I think they are very solid and I'd love to have you hold me accountable if you see me going astray.

Secondly, I think they might help those of you who are still in the process of setting your resolutions for the coming year.

Well, here they are ...

I will enjoy my family

This may seem strange and even something that should come naturally. Well, I can honestly say I DO enjoy my family and really love spending time with them.

The only problem is when things get busy and life "happens," it's easy to lose sight of how important my family is, and at times, I allow my crazy schedule to impact my mood and the way I respond to the most important people in my life. This resolution is meant to keep me on track.

When I notice that I am being short with them, or not paying complete attention because I am distracted with something else ... I'll think about this resolution and ask myself. "Am I enjoying my family right now?" I believe this will get me back on track.

I will live healthy

This resolution is something I can use whenever I am faced with making a potentially bad decision. Just this afternoon, for example, I was bringing my daughter to her acting classes and ran through a drive through to get her some food to hold her over. I was faced with the option of ordering some french fries or a nice greasy hamburger. I immediately thought of this resolution and decided against it.

You may say, "Ah ... I see. You will live healthy but subject your daughter to being unhealthy."

Come on. I am 40 and have the metabolism of a sloth. My daughter is a teenager and can handle a happy meal every now and then.

I will learn every day

Knowledge is power and the most successful people on this planet don't let anything interfere with their learning. I aspire to be one of those people so I don't have a choice.

Seriously though, I am invigorated by learning and realize the more I learn, the smarter I become and the more value I bring to the marketplace. I don't care how busy my schedule gets, I can always find 30-60 minutes each day to participate in some active learning ... and I will!

I will do it now

I, like a lot of people, have dealt with procrastination for a long time. The horrible thing about procrastination is the amount of mental energy you expend thinking about the tasks you have on your plate.

No matter how big or small, they consume brain power you could be using for something productive. Not only that ... at times it can flat out cause you to deal with unnecessary anxiety.

How many times have you found yourself stressed out about a task for a couple weeks, a month, or even years. Once you finally took the time to accomplish the task you found out it only took you a few minutes or an hour to accomplish.

Didn't you feel stupid for allowing something so insignificant to occupy so much of your life? What if you would have simply addressed it the first time it was on your mind?

From now on I will!

I will be focused

Although I say ADD is my superpower, it is also an excuse I use for non-productivity far too often.

The mind is an incredible tool! I believe it is possible to harness the power and learn how to stay super focused on whatever I am working on at any time. Doing this will ensure I stay as productive as possible and also will help my family realize how important they are to me.

How many times have you found your mind drifting off when your wife or kids were telling you about their day? I can assure you the next time I find that happening I'll think about this resolution and I'll get my mind back and focused on the right thing.

I will finish

I've had a handwritten note on my desk for the past year which has a simple saying on it. The saying is, "There is no lack of good ideas, only a lack of follow through."

This is an incredibly strong statement and one I am truly glad I stumbled across. We always tell our children, "You should always finish what you start."

How can we tell our kids that and not live by the same standards ourselves? Well now I will, and I believe my kids will follow my example much more than they listen to my words.

Well if they know what's good for them they will.

There you have it folks. Those are the six guiding resolutions that I'll be highly tuned into for the next decade, and I believe the results will show.

I'd love it if you'd share any resolutions you've made which have had a significant impact on the course of your life. If not, your thoughts on this post would be fine.

I wish you the best for the new decade. Whatever you do, approach each day with purpose and don't let life guide you. If you do, you may not like where it takes you.

Related Articles
  What's your New Year Resolution? 5 Steps To Help You Achieve it
  Don't Set New Year's Resolutions - Take Action in The New Year
  A Different Kind of New Year's Resolution
  Resolve to stop making resolutions!
  The Best New Years Resolution is to never make them again!
  New Years Resolution, Do Not Make One This Year?
  The Best New Year Business Resolution is NO Resolution
  Why A Dusty Old Push Bike Should Not Stop Your New Year's Resolution!
  New Years Resolutions
  HOW TO KEEP YOUR RESOLUTIONS AND REACH YOUR GOALS
  Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions
  Guarentee Your New Year's Resolutions by Turning Them Into Goals.
  Ditch the New Year's Resolutions!
  5 New Year's ReSOLUTIONS - To Turn Your Business On Its Head!
  Ten Ideas to Help You Keep Your Resolutions Or Goals
  Making Resolutions Work!
  Stop Making Resolutions, Start Making Plans
  Bring in 2010 with an Exciting and Compelling Goal
  Personal Growth: How Are Your Resolutions Holding Up?
  To Throw or not to Throw out (old financial records) - that is the question.

Article Tags: goal setting, new years, resolutions



Related Forum Posts
New Year's Resolutions? - It's getting close to the New Year. Do any of our Young Entrepreneurs out there care to share their Resolutions...or goals...for the upcoming year? And what plans do you have to make those goals become a reality?
Need a book recommendation for writing better - I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing skills, so I was just wondering if anyone could recommend a good copywriting or copyediting book? I was actually thinking of reading "The Copywriter's Handbook : A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Copy That Sells" by Robert W Bly [u:w3cg00nn]OR[/u:w3cg00nn] "The Copyeditor's Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications" by Amy Einsohn. Would anyone know if these books are any good? Thanks
Re: How do u optimize a Blogger blog? - Hi GT, Of course there is a way and you know it, you wrote it down in your question. 1- Optimize your main blog code : Meta keywords, title, description. 2- Optimize your post - look at it as a web page. You need keywords (tags), use them in your title, first and last paragraph, and variations on the entire blog. Use the Strong tag, add title to links and alt to images. This is it. The key here is to do a good keyword search before writing.
Choose 'stability' in a franchise - Tapping into current 'trendy' franchises can be risky business - You may find yourself stuck with a longer term 10yr contract. What happens when the trend fizzles? Your investment disappears... There are a whole host of factors to consider when entering into the arena of franchising. A few items on the check list that should steer you into safer waters... away from the predators... are listed here. 1. Age (stability): 10+ years 2. Satisfied franchisees: 85% + satisfaction 3. Size (stability again): 250 units 4. Strong profits 5. Great management There are other measurements that need to be considered like - identifying accurate store profits. There are short-lists of franchises that meet these criteria. That's for another thread...
Good Adwords Books? - I've just purchased "Ultimate Guide to Pay-Per-Click Advertising" by Richard Stokes. Has anyone read it, and if so what do you think? Does anyone have any other recommendations for books relating to Adwords? Thanks,


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

10 Golden rules to survive the Global Crisis

Avoid Burnout: Do the Limbo Regularly

The Biggest Domain Name Myth

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.