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10 Day-Timer-Tested Ways to Make (and Keep) New Year's Resolutions
1. Specify Your Way to Success! Tell a friend you'll exercise together some day and you probably won't. Tell him you'll meet at the gym at 1:00 pm on Monday, 14th January, 2008, and you're far more likely to do so! Assigning dates and numbers – specifics – moves your goals from dreamland to reality.
2. Swiss Cheese Your Way to Success! Nibble away at your goals instead of taking huge, overwhelming bites. Want to quit smoking? Swiss cheese the task by smoking 1 less cigarette a day. Want to save money? Have your employer automatically put 5% (or more) of every paycheck directly into your savings account. (You'll likely never miss it!) Make a list of what you specifically want to improve and work on just one item a week… that's not so tough.
3. Observe the "Pareto Principle." Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto found that 80% of the wealth in most countries is controlled by about 20% of the people. It's now a management principle that says the majority of your success in most any endeavor is the result of focusing on the 20% of the activities that are really important. In other words, "Don't simply work hard, work smart." That means identifying the activities in your life that make the biggest difference and focusing on them. Unless you identify the 20%, you won't know what you're letting slip through the cracks and how to best prioritise.
4. Change Desires into Action Statements. Desires are great, but unless you follow up with action, you'll never fulfill those desires. Rather than simply saying you want to be financially independent, state what action steps you'll actually take to make more money. Begin thinking with an action mindset. Keep asking yourself, "What will I do? What steps will I take? How do I get from point A to point B?" You don't have a plan to succeed if it doesn't contain any action verbs!
5. Copy-Catting, Modeling, Mentoring... whatever you call it, find someone who did it successfully and learn from them! How much could you learn from someone who has spent 10 years in the field? You'd be amazed how many top achievers are willing to offer you a helping hand for little or no compensation. And in most cases, all you need do is ask! Your job is simply to ask the right questions. Phone consultations are best, because with permission you could record the conversation instead of taking notes and thereby cover far more ground.
6. See Setbacks as Guides, Not Failures! There are thousands of ways to do things. It's your job to find the many ways that will work. That's your part of the bargain… and why educating yourself first speeds you to success. Begin to regard so-called failures less emotionally, as simply "outcomes," and keep trying until you get the outcome you desire. Life is a game of cause and effect. For every cause, there is a corresponding effect. If you're convinced it can be done, then it's simply a matter of finding the "cause" that returns the desired "effect!" The world is impersonal – it doesn't care who succeeds or fails. It's all a matter of finding the 20% of the causes that return 80% of the results you want. So keep trying. And remember the great expression, "Failure isn't the falling down, it's the lying down."
7. Remind and Reward Yourself! Post your goals on your car's dashboard... computer monitor… Day-Timer planner... refrigerator! And be sure to reward yourself for hitting each plateau or for each month you've stuck with your goal... you deserve it!
8. Break It Down! As a butcher once quipped, "How do you eat a cow? One steak at a time!" Break your goal into tiny pieces that are so ridiculously simple you can't fail to begin! Get the ball rolling RIGHT NOW and keep it going by taking the next tiny step... and then the next!
9. Set "Back-On-Track" Goals! People use setbacks as excuses to quit. Don't do it! Instead, have at least 3 responses planned and mentally rehearse them so you'll be prepared should you lapse into old behavior... then get back on track immediately! In other words, set "Back-On-Track" goals – and they too, should be specific and measurable.
10. Apply the "7 x 3 Success System!" Try this experiment: force yourself to perform your desired behavior every day for 3 weeks. Psychologists say it takes 21 days to form new habits. After that, your new behaviors become easy and automatic. So keep at it... and on day 21, write in your planner, "CELEBRATE!" This one idea alone – if used – can change your life. Try it for some little goal. Then, when you're convinced, go for the big ones!
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