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Every New Year’s Eve you make resolutions and set goals that you are never quite able to accomplish. In my practice as a Business Coach I have discovered my most successful clients all use the same formula for creating goals. Today I’d like to share three things you can do to change the way you set goals and begin to achieve anything you want.
Why do we make resolutions anyway? Is it just tradition, we set goals without any intention of seeing them through? My guess is we see this holiday as a chance for a new beginning, an opportunity to finally make changes in areas of our lives where we are genuinely unhappy.
No one wants to be unhappy so why do we fail? Most of the time it’s a lack of will power or commitment. We get in the way of our own success by making excuses and coming up with reasons why we can’t possibly succeed, at least not right now. Another reason we don’t succeed is the lack a well-defined goal. Statements like “loose weight” or “be successful” aren’t very well defined and can mean different things to different people. Most importantly we fail to hold our selves accountable for our actions. For instance, if I sleep in instead of exercise or have a donut instead of a healthy breakfast, chances are I will let myself off the hook and decide to chuck it all in and start again tomorrow.
If you really want to create a goal you will achieve the first thing you must do is to define what success means to you. If you think success equals money, ask yourself what money means. Does having money mean you can always pay your bills on time or does it mean you can spend more time with your family. Maybe having money means people will always treat you well. These things, responsibility, family and respect are your values. When you align your goals with your values it gives you a greater incentive to see them through.
Next you want to make sure your goals are S.M.A.R.T. This means
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time Bound
If your goal is to “loose weight”, how much do you want to loose? How will you know when you have reached your goal, will you measure pounds or percentage of body fat? What is your plan to achieve your goal? Is it realistic? 10 pounds in one week isn’t as realistic as 2 and. Finally, how long will you continue with this goal; 90 days, until you can run 3 miles, or until you loose 20 pounds. Resist setting yourself up for failure by making your goals nearly impossible to carry out. The more detailed you get in the creation of your goal the more committed you become to succeeding.
Most importantly find an accountability partner. This person needs to support what you are going to accomplish 100%. They should be able to remain objective, have no stake in the outcome of your ability to reach your goal and help you maintain the proper perspective in all situations. It’s easy to become so focused on what we are trying to accomplish that we loose sight of the big picture. In addition to encouraging persistent and consistent action, they will be expected to hold you accountable for your actions. The amount of accountability or the consequences for your behaviors is something the two of you will need to agree on before you begin this partnership and can be as severe or fun as you want. The point is to have someone to coach you through your progress.
This New Years Eve, before the champagne, consider applying these three guidelines when making your resolutions:
Align your goals to one or more of your values
Make sure you have a S.M.A.R.T. goal
Get an accountability partner
Get serious about creating change in your life and make this the year you set goals you will actually achieve.
Holly Brown is a Business Coach with Labyrinth Coaches
For more information about coaching and how it can help you reach your goals please visit http://www.labyrinthcoaches.com
Or send an email to holly@labyrinthcoaches.com
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