For Success in the New Year, Resolve to set Goals

"In the absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia." (Does the term email come to mind?)
Author Unknown

If you only make one New Years Resolution, make it to set personal goals and write them down. I don't know what is so magic about doing so but having personally done it and having not done it, I can attest that writing out your goals makes you more likely to achieve them. Your goals can and should include all the normal resolutions you would make but by writing them down, printing them out and taping them to your bathroom mirror to recite daily, you will be less likely to break those resolutions. There is some subconscious force that's generated to keep you pointing toward your desired ends.

What you are really trying to do is not just follow some list of resolutions that are annually made and broken, but to create a system that will enable and empower you to make permanent changes in your lifestyle. You don't want to lose 10 pounds only to gain it back or to stop smoking for a month, you want to make this an ongoing part of your new life.

How do you go about setting goals? It is really not difficult but for some reason people tend to avoid doing it, even when they know they should. So the first rule for setting goals is:

SET THEM - getting started writing goals for some people is like an exercie program. The first step is the most difficult, then it just coasts along. So as soon as you finish this newsletter and before you look at the rest of your email, find a pad and pen and start writing.

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS? What do you want to accomplish in the next few weeks, few months or year. Do you have a health, weight or fitness goal. If it is not specific for the long term, at least create a short term objective. Lose 10 pounds by February 1. Start some kind of exercise program even if it is just walking around the block. If you have not exercised in a while, make it easy on yourself and just go for 10 minutes. Add a minute every other day until you reach 30 minutes which you will do with no strain by the end of the month.

READ THE GOALS ALOUD EACH DAY affirmations or sel-talk is another proven method for achieving success. Simply by repeating a statement each day and believing it, you will start accomplishing it in a short time.

To be most effective, your goals should be SPECIFIC - MEASURABLE - ACHIEVABLE - RELEVANT & have a TIME FACTOR, a period in which to achieve your goal.

Goal setting is a powerful way of motivating people, and of motivating yourself. The value of goal setting is so well recognized that entire management systems, like Management by Objectives, have goal setting basics incorporated within them.

In fact, goal setting theory is generally accepted as among the most valid and useful motivation theories in industrial and organizational psychology, human resource management, and organizational behavior.

Use clear, challenging goals, and commit yourself to achieving them. Provide feedback on goal performance. Take into consideration the complexity of the task. If you follow these simple rules, your goal setting process will be much more successful, and your overall performance will improve.

"IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO START SOMETHING GREAT"

and goal setting is a great way to start something great.

                                                                                              Gene Rutt