We all make new resolutions. We resolve to lose weight, quit smoking, advance our careers, spend more time with family…in short, to improve ourselves and our lives in one way or another.

Let’s pause for a minute to consider how far we’ve come towards accomplishing those goals that we set for ourselves. Are we almost there yet?

Research shows that 96% of those who set resolutions never follow through.

The reasons for this painful fact are as follows:

• They set goals because the feel that they have to, not because they want to.
• They set goals on things that they would like to achieve without clearly understanding why they want them.
• They don’t have the confidence to believe they can really accomplish what they want.
• They don’t break it down to small daily action steps that will get them where they want to be.
• They don’t have someone who will hold them accountable on a weekly or monthly basis.

The first thing you need to do is get clear on where you are right now. In order to do that ask yourself, “what did I accomplish so far?”

• Things you bought
• Numbers you reached
• Big deals you closed
• Magic moments you will remember forever
• Relationships you built or strengthened
• New skills you learned

Once you have a list of those things, take each one of them and ask yourself the following questions:

• What about them was important to me? For example let’s say that you closed a very big deal last year… what about this experience made me feel good? The commission that I earned? Or the confidence that I can close big deals? or….
• How did I do it? In our previous example, how did I get to close the big deal? Did I do something different? Did I change my thinking to think bigger? Did I prepare better?
• What did I learn from it? Most of the time, the thing that you learned from the experience is more important than the experience itself. Why? Because if you persist in practicing what you learned from it, you can do it again and again.
• What challenges did I face?And what did I learn from them? This is a very powerful exercise, because if you take the challenges that you struggled with in 2007 and get a clear understanding of why you struggled with them, you will be able to start working on the beliefs or actions that can help you make sure they don’t happen again.
• Which decisions over the year empowered and strengthened me?Why did I make those decisions? What kept me from falling back to my old habits? And what results did I achieve because of them?

Using the answers to the last question, you might want to take it to a deeper level. Looking back at your life what were the things that were once a dream and a hope or a commitment, and now have become part of your life? When you have a few items in this category, ask yourself, “How did I do it?”…What beliefs did I change that allowed this to happen? Did I focus on it continuously? Did I write a plan on how to get it done? Was it more important to me than other things? What was the first thing I did? Then what?”

This exercise will accomplish two things:

• It will give you the confidence that you can make things happen.
• It will give you insight into how to make changes in your reality.

Most people look at the things that they failed to accomplish and feel sorry for themselves because their lives have not changed. They don’t focus on the fact that there are lots of things that were once just dreams or wishes that they now enjoy every day and take for granted. So by giving yourself credit for the things you have accomplished, you will get the courage to make new goals and visions, and go for them.

When you do all of the exercises above, you will have a clear understanding of:

• Where you are
• What you have accomplished in your life
• Your ability to get things done, if you really want to
• Your secret formula of how to make changes in your life

This will give you the foundation to make new goals and create your best year yet.

More on that next week…

QUOTES OF THE WEEK.

“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eye off the goal…”
H. Moore (English poet)

QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK.

What are you going to do with the concepts you learned from reading this email?

© 2007 – 2012, Keren Peters-Atkinson. All rights reserved.