Happy Friday! I hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving filled with good food, good company and gratitude for all that you have and all that you are. Today, as many of us trek to the malls to shop for gifts, it's safe to say the holiday season is officially, fully underway.
Just 39 days from today, we will ring in the New Year . . . January 1, 2008. It's amazing how quickly the year passed by! Did you make and keep your 2007 New Year Resolutions? Or were they forgotten long before the roses landed an eternity ago, on Valentine's Day? Keep in mind your 2008 New Year Resolution doesn't have to suffer the same terrible fate: death by un-timely burial and suffocation at the bottom of your desk drawer.
Alternatively, why not use the next month to motivate yourself, do some brainstorming and planning, get your life organized, so that you will have momentum when you launch your New Year Resolution on January 1. One of the biggest mistakes that people make is to draft a long laundry list of things that they feel they must change about themselves. I call it the 'sins'. Folks draft this list after living 41 days of 'excess' between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. Hence, they end up with an array of guilt-fed resolutions to: stop drinking, stop over-eating, stop spending, pay off debt, exercise more, get more rest, get healthy, get fit, get organized. You know the list.
Typically people don't have true interest in making and keeping these resolutions. They don't have the desire, commitment, determination, patience, passion, or persistence to make them a reality. This in turn sets them up for early failure and guilt.
Instead of repeating the mistakes of the past, why not think outside the box in 2008? Become a Resolution Revolutionary and change the paradigm. It's okay to be different. It's okay to color outside the lines with bright red, or yellow, or purple crayons.
To get you rolling here are some common sense tips, which include the Five I Resolve To Do's that I preach about (Dare To Dream, Decide, Define, Develop A Plan, and Do It Daily). Rather than writing your resolutions on the back of a bar napkin at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, consider pursuing just one resolution in a more systematic, thoughtful way in 2008 . . . Start today by taking these steps:
- Begin brainstorming now about what you will achieve in 2008. Pull out a notebook. Grab a cup of coffee and find a quiet spot where you can think. To put yourself in a positive frame of mind, consider all the many things that you achieved during the past 12 months. Draft a list of all the successes, the things that you did or created, the new things that you learned and tried for the first time. I bet you will come up with a list about which you can be truly proud.
- Next, consider all the things that you would love to do, see, be, learn, achieve, have, feel, experience, create in this lifetime. Open your mind and Dare To Dream. Yes, consider all that could be possible in your life. For now, don't worry about being realistic. Write down the 25, 50, 100 dreams, large and small, that you would love to achieve in this lifetime. This is your Lifetime Resolution List.
- Take a long, hard, careful look at your Lifetime Resolution List. Which resolution really leaps out at you. Which one lights your fire. Which one do you truly want to focus on during the next 12 months. Which one would bring happiness, reward and fulfillment to your life? Okay it's decision time. The next step is to Decide to pursue that one dream. Resolve, after all means to decide firmly. Make a decision today to 'go for it' - to pursue that one resolution, that one dream with all you're worth, with everything you've got!
- It's important to be very specific - broad, general resolutions are dangerous. The next step is to Define exactly what you plan to achieve in one sentence such as, I resolve to exercise daily for 30-minutes by walking, swimming, biking, playing tennis, doing Yoga, and working out with weights. This is one of my Lifetime Resolutions - I made it long ago and it is with me permanently.
- So where to begin once you've Dare To Dream, Decided and Defined? How to turn a dream, a resolution into reality? You need commitment. You need passion, patience, perseverance, and most importantly a PLAN. Next step is to do your homework so that you know all the steps that are ncessary to achieve your dream, your resolution. Then Develop A Plan that includes a timeline, deadlines, and realistic long and short range goals that can be broken down into small daily steps that you can take one by one. From the beginning it's important to keep a Daily Resolution Diary so that you can measure progress, make course corrections, and reward yourself for hard won victories!
- Finally, you need to actually Do It Daily! If you have a plan but fail to implement, it means nothing. But if you take one small step at a time, one day at a time, for one year, you will have a much better shot at succeeding. Think of your effort like money in the bank paying compound interest. Your dividends grow much larger over time.
I firmly believe that each one of us is capable of making and keeping New Year Resolutions, but you have to know what you want and be willing to work hard to achieve it. At the outset you have to determine the 'who, what, when, why, where, and how' of your New Year Resolution to make it a reailty. A willingness to be introspective is very important, as is a desire to overcome obstacles when they present themselves and not beat yourself up when you make mistakes, or fall behind in your schedule. If your resolution is to exercise daily, and you miss a few days, consider all the days that you did exercise - and all the days that you will exercise!
At the end of the day, you have to start somewhere. Why not start right here, right now. Make a decision to use what you know, use your common sense, and my simple I Resolve To System to turn your resolution to reality in 2008. Make a firm commitment by signing the I Resolve To Promise irt_promise.pdf and working your way thorugh the Five I Resolve To Do's and the I Resolve To Formula:
Dream + Resolution + Daily Goals = Success, Achievement & Reward
Remember: I Resolve To Achieve My New Year Resolutions, One Resolution, One Day At A Time For One Year. It's your choice. Do it today. Turn your resolution into reality in five simple, common sense steps: Dare To Dream, Decide, Define, Develop A Plan, and Do It Daily. Make your resolution a permanent Lifetime Resolution, something that's with you for good! Above all, Be A Resolutionista, someone who makes resolutions, keeps resolutions, and enjoys the journey! Let's Go For It!
Kim M. Simpson - November 23, 2007
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