Thank Goodness It's Monday #285
WHAT ARE YOU MAKING FOR 2011?
RESOLUTIONS? GOALS? PLANS?
The beginning of any calendar year is inevitably a time for a renewed commitment to getting things done. Certainly in personal affairs. Often in business.
And how does this come to pass?
- Sometimes we “resolve.” Don’t you have a bundle of hot-off-the-celebrating New Year’s Resolutions all lined up; most likely things you resolved to get done in the past and now you’re really, really going to do in the days ahead?
Sometimes we “set goals.” You quantify and commit to the idea that some specific outcomes will come to pass by some specific time.
Sometimes we “make plans.” We break the simply stated goals into manageable and measurable components and plot out a path to evaluate and adjust along the way achieving the goal.
And in the ideal world, we do all three. One quite worthwhile purpose of New Year’s resolutions and goals and plans and all such is –
To focus our attention. The mind won’t reach toward achievement until it has clear objectives. It’s then that the switch is turned on, the current begins to flow, and the “power to accomplish” drives the make-it-a-reality machinery. Then the magic can begin.
Fair enough, so far? Good.
So let’s ask –
How’d all that work out for you in 2010?
Less than spectacularly?
Oh. Then –
What will you do differently for 2011? Besides resolutions, goals and plans, what are you “making” for 2011?
TGIM ACTION IDEA: Add one more item. Make a commitment to –
CHANGE
Here (I hope) is some insight into making change happen:
#1: Individuals change best when –
The motivation comes from within, rather than from the outside.
Example: You may think, “There’s not much I can do about my career until the economy shapes up.” Or you might say, “Things would be different for me at home if only my spouse were to behave differently.”
In these cases you’re relying on some external force to make change happen.
Why would you do that? You could be waiting forever.
Universal Truth: You are 100% responsible for you. Nothing will truly change until you do. And how does that happen?
TGIM CHANGE MAKER: Take responsibility. Rely on yourself. Set your own priorities. Motivate yourself by getting excited about the quest that lies ahead.
#2: Individuals change best when –
Their objectives are specific.
Maybe it’s stating the obvious. But let’s be clear. We do more when we have a purposeful direction.
Example: Objectives stated as glittering generalities -- such as “I want to get ahead” or “I want to lose weight” -- keep you from knowing whether you’re succeeding or failing because they set no measurable goal criterion.
TGIM CHANGE MAKER: Putting performance measures, time limits, real milestones and actual rewards in the process makes it specific and easier to measure whether progress is being achieved or not. Once we have parameters in place, we more readily see change occurring. And knowing that change is effectively taking place can feed your personal satisfaction.
#3: Individuals change best when –
There’s public as well as personal commitment.
It’s more difficult to change in a vacuum. It helps to be held accountable by others and receive their support and feedback.
Example: You tell yourself “This year I’m really committed to losing 25 pounds by April 1.” But when the going gets tough after the first easier-off 10 pounds, you falter and sort of quit because, after all, who’s to know? And eventually all the pounds creep back, and then some.
TGIM CHANGE MAKER: Tell others. Share your hopes, your dreams and your goals. Other people will be glad to give you feedback, support, ideas. And the more specific you are in detailing your aspirations, the more informative that feedback can be. But above all, by making the commitment “public,” you become more emotionally involved and that also helps you stick to it.
#4 Individuals change best when –
Changes are timely and gradual.
While the idea that revolutionary change comes dramatically in a flash of brilliance is appealing, life seldom happens like that. Change takes time. Individual change takes patience and time. Achieving the kind of significant goals we each outline at this time of the year won’t be done by tomorrow. (If they are, please share your extraordinary strategy.)
TGIM CHANGE MAKER: Be patient. Most changes require a series of events to occur in some evolving way. What we can do daily is to help some of those events occur. But even then, the magnitude and complexity of accomplishing great things demands shifts in attitude, values, policies and procedures – and that takes time and careful planning.
Putting it all together. You can have big, bold resolutions, well crafted goals and thorough plans but it’s the small choices that you’ll face after laying out and beginning this campaign that will have the greatest impact.
It’s the first business day of the New Year. I’m looking forward to another year of striving together to make 2011 our Best Year Ever. Let’s get tough and let’s get going.
Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing
8 Depot Square
Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com
P.S. “Figuring out who you are is the whole point of the human experience.” Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Anna Quindlan made that determination.
GEOFF STECK leads Alexander Publishing & Marketing, a company he formed in 1986. The core AP&M mission: To create and publish leadership, sales mastery, self-improvement and workplace skill-building resources and tools. The focus: Areas such as business communication, staff support, customer care and frontline management. Geoff also puts his corporate and entrepreneurial experience, independent perspective, and skills as a catalyst to work for other firms (ranging from multinational corporations to more modest operations), not-for-profits, and individuals who have conceived or developed programs or initiatives but are frustrated in getting them implemented.
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