Hooray it’s the New Year and a great time of year to grab your front-row seat to the annual ritual dance of predictable failure.
I’m talking about New Year’s Resolutions.
If you’re one of the few people who actually WANT your New Year’s Resolutions to produce real, life-altering change, I give you these 7 sure-fire strategies designed to make sure your resolutions actually produce a CHANGE—not a temporary, “feel-good” moment that lasts 9 days.
Strategy #1:
Don’t Make New Year’s Resolutions!
This afternoon I went to a jammed-packed gym filled with new faces, an annual migration of New Year’s Resolutioners who invade, crowd, and suck-up the resources at my gym… for about, oh, 3 weeks.
Of course let’s call the new faces for what they are—impending failures—the “action-fakers” who make resolutions once a year, and then fail at them because they fail at understanding the only thing that produces real change—a clearly defined process engineered by a change in beliefs which change daily choices.
I don’t have any “New Year’s Resolutions”.
Most successful people I know don’t either.
Want to know why?
Because successful people make resolutions EVERY SINGLE DAY. If your mindset toward goal-setting is to make them once a year, guess what?
You’re guaranteed to fail.
For successful people, New Year’s Resolutions, if they are made, are simply another goal, or another milepost, along the journey. To truly succeed at creating and achieving your dream, you have to resolve to make resolutions daily, if not, weekly.
If you think the like the masses and make resolutions/goals once per year, you’re going to get results typical of the masses—mediocrity.
Strategy #2:
Understand that Real Change Is A Process, Not an Event.
For most New Years Resolutioners, the act of making a resolution is an event designed for one purpose: To give the Resolutioner a temporary feel good moment that they are “doing something” or in guruspeak, “taking action”.
Unfortunately, the Resolutioner fails to understand that long-lasting, real change doesn’t happen overnight with one decision, it must happen daily, weekly, and monthly. Repeated action forged by a change in beliefs is what creates habits and habits create change.
This is what I call “process”.
For example, the next time you hit the grocery store, examine the conveyor belt of the shopper in front of you — the conveyor belt uncovers a powerful concept — the process of someone’s daily, dietary decision making. If that conveyor belt contains soda, ice cream, chips, dips, and any other fat-laddened garbage, does it matter what that that person has a New Year Resolution to lose weight?
Nope!
Their “process”, or their daily dietary choices are revealed on the conveyor belt. (A conveyor belt full of food will take days, if not weeks, to eat.) In this case, the Resolutioner chose the feel-good event of declaring “I’m gonna lose weight” over the only thing that can induce change: The process (“I’m changing my daily diet” ).
With any goal you have, its achievement will be made possible by understanding WHERE THE WAR IS WON, and that war is fought and battled in the trenches of daily decision making, or process. In our example, that battle starts not at the refrigerator or at the gym, but at the grocery store.
Strategy #3:
Make Your Resolution Specific, Measurable, and Timed
The Fastlane strategy is based on mathematics and so should your goals. In other words, you must attach a number to your goal so it can be specific and measured.
“Make more money” is an action-faking goal that is designed to make you feel good. “Make $10K a month by December” is designed to get you to do it.
“Lose weight” is an action-faking goal designed to make you feel good. “Lose 25 pounds before August 1st” is designed to get you to do it.
You’d think this was goal-setting 101 but it isn’t. Again, at my gym, gym goers are encouraged to post their goals on the wall and what do I see? Immeasurable, non-specific, untimed goals that do nothing but pave the road to failure.
Lose weight! Get Healthy! Get ripped! Get stronger!
Puhleeze.
If you’re making goals to temporarily assuage your feelings of “taking action” please spare yourself the self-indulgence.
Strategy #4:
Breakdown the Goal Into It’s Smallest Part
If you have a big goal, looking at the goal in its entirety will overwhelm you and short-circuit your process. Again, process (daily decision and actions) are the key to producing real results. If you gotta climb a mountain, looking at the top will easily discourage you.
Don’t do it!
In order to accomplish your goal, break the goal down into it’s VERY SMALLEST part – and yes, I MEAN THE SMALLEST!
For example, take the simple act of taking a crap. (Sorry for being crude but I wanted to think of something we do daily and routinely.)
If this was a goal, it would be broken down into the following sub-goals.
Enter bathroom. Lower toilet lid. Unbuckle pants. Drop pants. Sit. Expunge. Wipe. Flush. Wash Hands. Exit.
Accomplishing a big goal isn’t much different than some of the the routine things we do everyday. Breakdown your big goals into the smallest of subgoals, and when each subgoal is accomplished, MARK IT OFF!
See yourself getting closer to the accomplishment.
If your goal is to lose 25 pounds, target 1 pound first!
If your goal is to sell 10,000 books, target 10 books first!
If your goal is to earn $10,000/mo, target $100/mo first!
You can’t run a 26 mile marathon by focusing on the 26th mile. You have to get through mile marker #1 before you can move beyond mile marker #2, #3, and so forth.
Strategy #5:
Reward Yourself Each Step of the Way!
When I hit a major net worth goal I bought my first Lamborghini. It was my reward.
In order to hit your goals, you need to reward yourself each step of the way and pat yourself on the back.
If your goal is $10K/mo, celebrate the $100/mo mark. The $1000/mo mark. Each incremental subgoal should have a point of celebration — something that you will love, but won’t sidetrack your progress.
Smoke a cigar.
Buy an expensive outfit you’d never normally purchase.
Take a weekend vacation.
Indulge in that Bellagio facial at the resort spa.
Do something to say to yourself “Good job! Now lets get to the next step!”
Strategy #6:
Log it (Write it Down) and Keep It In Front of You!
My daily and weekly tasks to do (which come from goals) are updated daily, almost hourly.
For the task of logging my goals and thinks to do, I use Wunderlist which is on both my iPad and on my computer. When I change any task, it automatically syncs to my iPad and vice versa. My list goes with me EVERYWHERE I go. Notice: This is not a once-a-year occurrence—it is happening daily!
At home, my Wunderlist always sits on the left side monitor, constantly in my face reminding me of what needs to be done. (See pic)
Additionally, I also use this tool to catalog ideas and thoughts that I might forget. (I have a terrible memory!)
Writing goals on paper and tossing that piece of paper in a drawer on your desk? Action-fake.
Keep those goals always in foresight.
Strategy #7:
Put the “End Goal” In Front Of You.
The sibling strategy to #6 is #7: Keep your END GOAL front-and-center on your workspace!
I own a model Lamborghini that sits in my office. (Photo left: Model Lambo on my real Lambo) My screensaver, still to this day, is a Murci Roadster and yet not nearly 50 feet away it sits in my garage. I keep my “end goals”, or my WHY, in front me so I can have daily reminders about what I’m targeting.
Your WHY is why are you working so hard? WHAT do you want? Why is it important for you to “go Fastlane?”
For some, it might be a gaudy car or a small little beach house, while for others it might be a picture of your kids or your ailing mother. Whatever your WHY, keep in front of you, and stay reminded.
Keep END GOALS and GOALS in your face!
Conclusion
If you want to accomplish your goals, my last piece of advice is to respect the process and COMMIT to that process by taking actions that reflect commitment to that process. Joining a gym and buying 2 weeks of healthy food shows commitment to process, not the event.
Unfortunately, when it comes to goal setting and New Years Resolutions, people COMMIT to the wrong thing — they commit to the EVENT which precedes action-faking failure. The “event” is the feel good moment that the gurus tell us to do: “take action”. Ultimately, very few solitary actions have the power to induce change.
If you what to change your life, you have to change your choices—not once, but every hour, every day, and every week.
Are there specific strategies that help you accomplish goals? Please share! And happy 2012!
And Stop The Prostitution of Monday Through Friday!
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