| |
| |
|
Goal Setting Information |
|
|
|
Forget New Years Resolutions -- They Dont Work
You can forget about making New Year's Resolutions if you're hoping for a successful outcome. Most aren't worth the paper they're written on. No less than Mark Twain has written of New Year's Resolutions, "Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. Yesterday, everybody smoked his last cigar, took his last drink, and swore his last oath. Today, we are a pious and exemplary community. Thirty days from now, we shall have cast our reformation to the winds and gone to cutting our ancient shortcomings considerably shorter than ever." The biggest majority of New Year's Resolutions have gone by the wayside before January is over and most won't even be remembered six months later. And the reason is pretty simple: Most are made in response to something negative -- a habit or situation that the person wants to change or end. And therein lies the problem - it's hard to develop momentum from a negative response. It is always easier to move toward something rather than away from something. Consider one of the most adopted resolutions --- weight loss. No one can get excited about losing weight because it requires deprivation. It's a negative response to concerns about appearance, health, etc. The results of weight loss Resolutions demonstrate their weakness. A 1998 survey sponsored by Gardenburger found that more than three-fourths of all women between the ages of 25 and 54 make diet and weight-loss plans each year. Nearly nine of 10 respondents reported only occasional or no success, while almost half lost little or actually gained weight instead. The people who succeed at losing weight and maintaining the loss have usually been motivated by a dream much bigger and more positive than just losing weight. They see themselves living a healthy lifestyle. They begin to act and think like people who are in good physical shape. There's more of a radical change in a person's thinking and actions than you see with most resolutions. It wouldn't be possible to effect and sustain such a radical change unless the person is motivated by a big dream that is positive in nature. Another popular aim is to quit smoking. And I can certainly relate to that -- I was a three-pack-a-day smoker until I celebrated a smoke-free New Year's twelve years ago. For over twenty years I had tried to quit many times using every tool and technique I heard about. But as long as I was trying to quit, I couldn't break the grip. Instead, I developed a dream to become a non-smoker. I fell in love with the idea of breathing clean air instead of smoky air, of my body and clothes smelling nice instead of smoky. I thought about how wonderful it would be to taste food again. I decided to start acting and thinking like a non-smoker, and when the thinking took hold I simply quit smoking. In all the years since, I've never wanted another cigarette, never even thought about wanting one. If you're going to make a New Year's Resolution this year, make one with a high probability for success. Make a Resolution to develop a life plan. Most people are in a free-fall through life, careening from one crisis to the next. They wake up one day and 10, 20, 30 or more years have passed and they're nowhere near where they thought or hoped they'd be. Working with a life plan you're much more apt to be excited by what the future brings even if you succeed at attaining only a small part of your plan. A life plan should address all areas of your life including finances, health, relationships, career, spiritual and even recreational. While a lot of our focus tends to be on financial issues like increasing income or decreasing debt, or health issues like losing weight or quitting smoking, the undeniable truth is that a life lived out of balance isn't a life of quality at all. If you were going to build a new house and you had this idea for a fabulous master bedroom suite, you wouldn't rush out and start building the master bedroom. You'd have a complete plan before you started. When you approach resolutions and goals in the same manner, you end up with a much better chance of achieving success. Copyright © 2004 Vic Johnson Vic Johnson is a popular motivational speaker, author and Internet Infopreneur who has created some of the most visited personal development sites on the Web, including the goal setting portal, http://www.Goals2005.com that features goal setting programs and software as well as weight loss, smoking cessation and debt reduction solutions.
MORE RESOURCES:
Goal-Setting - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Thank You I wonder if anyone really reads long stuff from Ezines except for the juicy and interesting ones but I am one of those few who painstakingly reads almost all articles posted. And now I've a got a turn to write something here. Resolutions? Try this! Several articles and newsletters with the message that New Year's resolutions are a worthless exercise and a poorly disguised setup for failure have passed across my desk this last week, and the year before, and the year before that.I do not believe in failure! There is always something good to be found in any learning experience. Is There An Anxiety Solution For Those Who Fail To Keep Their Resolutions? In a nutshell.. Seven Steps To Planning A Successful Future Being successful in life is difficult unless you ensure you have a balanced life. To obtain the optimal benefits you must be passionate about your life plan and believe 100% in what you are doing. Goal Setting and Interviewing Before you go on an interview process or even start your own business, you must set goals! As a corporation owner for over twenty years, this is how I went about setting goals for myself. They are as follows:GOAL SETTING'S TOP TEN:If you want to be successful, it is important to set goals for yourself-daily goals, weekly goals, monthly goals and yearly goals. Giving Up Too Soon So you feel beaten up and bruised and you're ready to quit. You have no support system or the one you have is pathetically inadequate for the goals you've set. Achieve Your Goals By Doing Something About Them The title of this article sounds simplistic but it is amazing how often people (including me) sit staring at a problem like mounting paperwork and become so depressed by the thought of all the work to be done that they do nothing and continue in a paralytic state for days and even months!The article aims to cheer such people up by the fact that they are not the only ones to be paralyzed by their mounting tasks. It also offers one or two solutions to the problem. The Power of the Negative The vast majority of us learn very early on that we are expected to deal with facts. In and of itself this might not be such a terrible thing. Goal Setting and Goal Getting: Here Are Some Quotes that Can Change Your Life Here are several quotes about setting and achieving goals. My comments follow. The Importance of Aligning Your Personal Goals With Your Business Goals: Part 3 of a Series Would you like to be sure that your personal goals are consistent with your business goals? (Yes) (No)You might have certain personal goals that are, or become, divergent to your business goals.For instance, let's say that you set clear personal goals to compete in the Iron Man Triathlon in Hawaii. Conquering Goals: The Battle Plan "To accomplish great things we must not only act, but also dream, not only plan, but also believe."(Anatole France) While these three items define success, without all of them success would be unattainable. The Secret of Overcoming Procrastination in 4 Simple Steps Let's face it. Overcoming procrastination can be a challenge if you don't know what's causing it in the first place. Do You Think You Could You Have Achieved More? If you are anything like me, the end of the year might just leave you a little disappointed that you could have achieved more but didn't.With 2005 already on us when we look forward with great hope and enthusiasm, we must also prepare for the end of the year when we can look back with lot of satisfaction. Are Your Goals Exciting? This may sound like a strange question, but are you really excited about your goals? Of course, I'm making the assumption that you have already invested the time to think about what you want your life to be like and identified some of your goals in several areas. If not, please do this immediately. Keeping the Dream Alive Like the song by Linda Ronstadt, "a dream is a wish that your heart makes." To lose a dream is to die a little yourself. Your Goals Clearly In Mind Keep Your Goals Fresh In Your Mind - Most of us have goals, the question is how many of us actually follow-up and work those goals.What I mean is going a step further then actually recording your goals, with that said the question is how do we effectively work our goals list. Quick Tips On Achieving Your Goals Want to achieve your goals faster?Edward W. Smith, motivational speaker, author and TV show host, who specializes in quick tips on how to move your life ahead even faster, offers the following advice. Manage Your Expectations ... And Raise The Bar On Your Quality Of Life! When I was a newbie in 'the game of life,' I wanted to succeed beyond my wildest dreams. I wanted to make it big and take on the world, all at once. Achieving Impossible Goals By Ignoring The Experts "If the world were to blow itself up the last thing you would hear would be the voice of an expert saying it can't be done." --Peter UstinovDon't pay too much attention to the experts. Pigs Dont Sing Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and it annoys the pig.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
