Everyone loves to make New Year’s resolutions.It’s a new year and time for a fresh star so we load ourselves up with all sorts of goals or resolutions.Lose weight, exercise, quit smoking, get a raise, start a business, start a blog, read more, and the list can go on and on.
I find that there are so many things that I want to accomplish or start doing and my list is a mile long. If you have too many things to think and worry about or to try and change, you will not accomplish any of them. That is why I am introducing and following my new goal accomplishing system for New Year’s Resolutions and encouraging you to do the same.
The New Year’s Resolution Goal System
The system is very easy and makes you wonder why you never tried something like it before. Here are the steps for the New Year’s resolution goal system:
Make a list of all of your goals.
1. Make a list of all of your goals for this year from major feats that you would like to accomplish all the way down to little changes you would like to make (like reading for 30 minutes instead of watching one of the TV shows in your routine). Try to come up with at least 12, one for each month. It takes 30 days to build a habit so 12 habits or goals should work perfectly into this system.
Organize your goals.
2. Organizer all your goals in order of importance.The most important at the top and the least important (or the “it would be nice if I did it”) goal at the bottom.
Start working on your first goal.
3. On January 1, start working on your number one, most important goal. Work hard at it as if it is the only goal you need to accomplish this year. Each day in January do something that will bring you closer to your goal.
Evaluate your progress.
4. At the end of the month, evaluate how well you’ve done. Did you accomplish your goal? Did you get close? If not, what can you do to help yourself achieve your goal over the next 30 days? If successful, skip to number 6.
Evaluate your goal.
5. If you didn’t succeed, try and figure out why you didn’t. Was it too hard and should take longer than 30 days? If so, keep working on it for as long as it takes. Just make sure you evaluate your progress at least once a month and don’t give up.
Sometime you may find that the goal isn’t even right for you and that there are more important goals to focus on. If that’s the case, over the next 30 days, try the next goal on your list. It’s ok to decide that one or two of your goals were not right but if you find this happening with too many goals, try and figure out why and how you can make better goals that you can achieve.
Move on to your next goal.
6. Once you’ve accomplished one goal (or are comfortable enough with your progress), move onto your next goal. Work for the next 30 days to accomplish your next goal while maintaining your progress of your first goal (unless there is nothing to maintain since the goal was a one time thing).
Evaluate once again.
7. Go back to step 4 and repeat the steps over and over each month.
Keep doing this until next New Year and see how many goals you can accomplish. Next year try adding more goals and shorten the trial period. You can always assign different amounts of time to goals of different difficulty. Challenge yourself each year to see how many goals you can accomplish.
Over time, you will get better at disciplining yourself and maintaining your progress. Last year, without even noticing, I started using this system. If you look back to my first blog post, I wrote about starting my New Year’s resolution of blogging about “luck” on December 4th. On December 31st, I wrote about starting my next goal of creating personal financial statements every month, which I have also accomplished. Throughout this past year, I have started and accomplished many personal goals such as moving to a bigger place to live in a new city, quitting my job and starting my own company, spending more quality time with my family and many more. Looking back, it took about a month or so for each of them.
You will never accomplish all of your goals overnight but if you take baby steps and do them one at a time, you can be successful. Just remember, it takes 6 years to become an overnight success, so start working toward the future you in 6 years.
Good Luck and Happy New Year!
Editor’s note: This post was just too good to leave buried in my archive so I refreshed it and posted it again. The content is just as applicable today as when it was originally posted.