My New Years Resolution.
Yes Sir (…and Madam)!
It’s that special time of the year once more.
When we sit down and write all that well-intentioned, well-meaning, intelligent stuff we like to call our New Years Resolution.
Sort of, like, a wish list of all those things we failed to achieve during the preceding year but wished we had actually succeeded in.
You know, lose a few pounds, cease that bad habit (or take up a new one), finish writing (or reading) that book, or completing that annoying task that has been just sitting there all year(s).
All the things that we really, seriously, did intend to do, but just didn’t seem to get around to.
And Oh! By around February there’s that inevitable guilt feeling all over again because it looks like we just aren’t going to make it this year either. The goal still seems just as big, just as distant and we haven’t progressed far.
Wouldn’t it be great to have an objective, and then actually achieve it? So good for our morale, and momentum!
Well, I am reminded of that great analogy: How do you eat an elephant? Answer: One bite at a time!
I don’t think it really matters too much how big and hairy our New Years Resolution is, the problem is that we all too often have unrealistic expectations of when and how we achieve it. And when we review it during the year and we haven’t made too much progress, well, the discouragement and disappointment is palpable.
And so it all slips away. Again.
For 2012 I too have some resolutions. That I fully expect to achieve. In 2012.
But I have set out some reasonable, achievable and measurable steps to get there.
How about we all identify one or more things that we intend to achieve in 2012, and set some timelines, milestones right through the year where we can measure our progress, and experience that special sense of achievement as we progress towards our goal.
Perhaps month by month, or Quarter by Quarter.
Some incremental and realistic steps on the pathway to reach our goal.
Things that make a big goal achievable over time. That make the impossible possible.
Let’s commit to telling someone else about our resolution, so we can be accountable. And promise not to beat ourselves up if we don’t get all the way there by year-end.
Remember, so much of life is really about the journey, and not the destination.
Have a great 2012, enjoy the journey, and let me know how you get on….
Author Neil Findlay
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