New Years Eve seems to be the biggest time of the year that each of us gets motivated to set our goals.
New Years Eve seems to be the biggest time of the year that each of us gets motivated to set our goals. Most of us are excited, this will be the year we conquer all of our goals. Or so we say to ourselves. We have such a fire in us, we will not fail. What happened?
What started out strong seemed to fizzle just as quickly. Three months into the new year and we have already given up. Maybe by November we will make one last effort to reach our goals. We will feel a renewed energy to reach that finish line. What are we doing wrong?
I have 5 simple steps that can help.
1.
Define your goal and be as specific as possible. What is it that you are looking to achieve? Make sure that you write these goals on paper; put this list in your car, purse, office, bedroom. Seeing this list over and over again helps to keep you accountable. With this list, be realistic. If I am a sales person who consistently brings in$10,000 a month, I am not going to set my goal at $50,000 a month. I may wrote down $15,000. A slight jump up.
2.
Create a PLAN. What are you going to do on a daily basis to reach your goals? Perhaps you create a time line over the next few weeks of when each step of your plan should be finished. For my sales goal perhaps I plan to network 3 times a week.
3.
Visualize yourself achieving your goals. In your mind create a picture of you finishing your list. Imagine the way you are going to feel when you are done with your list.
4.
TAKE ACTION. Don’t just sit there wishing this would happen. Make them. Use the plan you created.
5.
Reward yourself. This I feel is the key to success. Choose something that you really want, and put pictures all over the place. Every time you look at this picture you should be motivated to keep going. You can have small reward or large ones. This is up to you.
I have always wanted an antique cash register. My husband promised me that when my company hit a million dollars in sales, I could have one. I would look at pictures all the time and imagine what it would look like in my office. I would go out to network and keep thinking I was so close, just talk to one more person. Write one more article. This may seem silly to you, but to me it is awesome. Decide what you want to work towards, and go out there and get it.
Originally published in the Democrat & Chronicle on May 3rd, 2012.