Dump the Resolutions and Focus on Goal-Setting in 2013

Dump the Resolutions and Focus on Goal-Setting in 2013

It’s a new year, and talk about resolutions is reaching a fever pitch. Several people have already asked me about my 2013 resolution(s)and my answer is the same as it was last year:

“I’m not making any resolutions because they don’t work…” 

Aside from the fact that they’re forgotten by the end of the first week in January, resolutions don’t work for me because they cover too long a period of time (365 days) and because statements like “I’m going to be healthier” or “I’m going to be a better person,” aren’t measurable.

Dreams

What does work is committing to a few big goals and breaking those down into small, more attainable pieces. Once I know what my vision for the year is, I write or type all of my goals out and keep them in a visible place so that I’m constantly reminded of what I want to accomplish.
While it is human nature to want to blame someone else for our shortcomings or lack of progress, I firmly believe that a lot of us get in our own way by not thinking- or planning ahead.

Writing down your goals or new business ideas makes them real and tangible. I’ve being writing mine for a little over six years and it has been a tremendous help, because in my mind if it isn’t written down then it doesn’t exist.

Here are a few reasons why setting- and writing down
my goals works better for me than resolutions:

  1. A goal list (w/ deadlines) will keep you honest
  2. Serves as a future reference/reminder
  3. Helps you keep track of progress
  4. Seeing your progress can inspire you to keep going
  5. You’ll start to accomplish more (This I guarantee)
  6. Gives you a visual and a physical thing you can carry around with you (Seeing is believing)
  7. As you start to dream bigger you can always go back and tailor your original list

If you’re new to goal-setting, try using these worksheets to get started: Goal Setting Worksheets

[Bonus: Check out Meetups List of Unresolutions. Nice idea.]

goal-setting