It’s that time of year again - time to set our goals. For some reason we all think that January is the time to start fresh, to once and for all be the things we want to be and achieve all the things we want to have. We make our New Year’s resolutions, we promise to do things better, to turn over a new leaf. The winter air carries countless promises of losing weight, making money and being better friends/parents/spouses. It all sounds so good. So why are we so bad at making it happen? Let’s face it- by the end of January most of us have already abandoned our goals as mere pipe dreams and we shrug them off with a mental note to do better next year.
Folks, it’s about goals, nothing more, and nothing less. I’m not here to tell you about how to set your goals, though, because there are tons of people and books to tell you how to do that and that’s not the hard part. I’m here to tell you how to achieve your goals and that’s a whole different ballgame.
The first thing to do is look back at last year and analyze your behavior. What went right? What goals did you hit? What things did you do to make them happen? How can you do them again this year? Now, what went wrong? What goals did you miss? Why did you miss them? Why did you really miss them? There are only two possible answers to that question.
One answer is that other people or situations caused you to miss your goals. If the reason you missed your goals has anything to do with the economy, your product, the market, your company or anything like that you are on your way to missing your goals again this year. Come the end of January, you’ll be right back where you were last year.
If on the other hand you answered something like, “I didn’t do the things I needed to achieve my goals” you are well on the way to hitting this year’s numbers.
Your goals are achieved by you and no one else. It is your reactions to other events and people that determine whether you get where you want to go. Only when you realize that you and you alone control your destiny will you begin to achieve the greatness you are capable of.
The key to making your goals not just wishes but reality lies in the power and intricacies of your mind. We are amazing creatures and each of us is capable of great things. Our difficulty lies in learning to harness the power of our minds to change our behaviors to get the things we want in life. Because most of us don’t fully understand the way we learn and change, we are doomed to setting new goals each January and achieving the same old thing each December.
Our results change only when our behaviors change. You’ve heard the old definition of insanity; doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. If we don’t act differently, we won’t make more money or lose weight or whatever else it is we want to do. In order to change our behavior, though, we can’t just read a book or go to a seminar or do anything just one time. We have to do these things repeatedly in order to build new habits and to make long term-changes. So often we want change to be quick and easy and efficient. We want to go to an all-day training session or read an entire book and change our entire lives overnight. It simply doesn’t work like that. That’s like saying you want to lose 10 pounds so you’re going to the gym for 8 hours. The human mind doesn’t change any differently than the human body. We simply don’t change in large chunks, we change in small increments.
Instead of trying to change yourself overnight, I’d like to suggest that you change only one minute a day. Just change one minute of your life today. Tomorrow, change an additional minute and continue on through the rest of the year. By this time next year, over 6 hours of your day will be different. That’s right- 6 hours of every day will be better than it is now. You’ll be doing the things you need to do to achieve your goals. If you work an 8 hour day, you will have improved 75% of your whole work life. Now that’s progress! And this time next year you’ll be looking back at the amazing progress you’ve made and you’ll be excited, instead of apprehensive, about next year’s goals. Now, wouldn’t that be a great holiday present to yourself?
A Minute A Day… - To learn more about this author, visit Laura Posey's Website.
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