It is the time of year we make New Year’s resolutions or goals Here are some tips to increase the probability that you will achieve your goal:
1) Focus on only one goal at a time – Pick the most important one. It’s OK to pick an easy but important goal. When you accomplish it, you will want to keep going on to the next goal.
2) Write it down – It sounds obvious, but until your goal is committed to paper it is only a dream. A dream becomes a goal when you write it down.
3) State it the positive – For example, instead of saying, “I want to lose 10 pounds”, you say, “I would like to become a healthy weight of …” This is because your brain has trouble with negatives and could misunderstand the goal. A good example of this is if you’ve ever played golf and thought, “don’t go in the water” and your ball went right in the water! That’s why it is better to state your goal in the positive, “I allow my ball to land in the fairway”.
4) State the goal in the ‘NOW’ – Rework the goal to be phrased like you have already accomplished it. For example, “I allow myself to enjoy a balance between life and work” is better than: “ I want to work less hours by the end of June”.
5) Place your written goal where you can read it to yourself daily for 30 days – I put mine on the mirror in the bathroom, so that I can read it and restate it to myself every morning.
Let’s make it a great year… or should I say, “I allow this year to be the best one yet!”
