In our last Point, we discussed how the new year is the closest thing any of us get to a regular “do over” in life. The new year is always a time of promise and promises. There are new opportunities to “get it right.” It’s also when we’re likely to make a great many promises to ourselves and to others.
Over the past two weeks of this brand-new year, I’ve helped my clients set many individual and corporate goals for 2012. Much of this planning has been all business, but following our whole-life approach to success, I’ve seen a fair share of goals to be accomplished out of the office, too.
That’s good. That’s the way it should be.
But let’s talk a little today about goals and resolutions. The best-laid plans aren’t worth the time it takes to come up with them if you don’t have a smart, attainable strategy to see them through. Also, if your goals are too large or too vague they will be too hard to reach. Small, focused, realistic adjustments can make a great many, bigger, positive changes in your life.
I’m reminded of a story a client told me about his wife and her New Year’s resolutions. This woman, one New Year’s Eve, decided to do a major life overall that involved several important lifestyle changes. She vowed to quit smoking and begin exercising and eating better in order to lose weight, and she vowed to start on New Year’s Day, which was on a Friday that year. My client applauded his wife’s great intentions and was prepared to support her efforts. He said the weekend was tough for everyone in the family since his wife was “on edge” because of her new resolutions. Things were stressful, but, true to her word, his wife threw away the cigarettes, she got on the treadmill Saturday morning for 30 minutes and she stuck to a strict diet plan.
Then came Sunday night. After a tense day during which she was testy with everyone, his wife lost her cool just before dinner. She had simply had it with the family; the smoke-free lifestyle; and the new, healthy eating plan! Next thing he knew, she was racing out of the house and to the store for cigarettes and her favorite desert; she called him on her mobile phone vowing never to get on the treadmill again.
On Monday, she was back to her old, harmful routine. But not everything was the same. She had unwittingly burdened her unhealthy lifestyle with an underlying feeling of failure. She was even further behind than where she started! Her promises were, perhaps, a little too good, and because of that she was unable, after a mere couple of days, to make good on them.
As you think about your New Year’s resolutions and goals, be reasonable. Be kind to yourself! Don’t try to overhaul yourself or change an ingrained habit in one weekend—or even one week or one month. Don’t do like this woman and bite off more than you can chew. (Pun absolutely intended.)
Think about one or two things you’d like to change. What do you really want to do more of, less of or stop doing altogether? Figure that out, and then go about it in a way that is reasonable and respectful to yourself and to those around you.
Corsini’s Point:
Resolve to make smarter, achievable resolutions! Don’t go the usual (too large and too vague) route of promising to “exercise more,” “lose 20 pounds” or “spend less time on email.” Focus your energy and your goals on something simple and absolutely doable. Vow to get up 30 minutes earlier each day. Once you get up earlier, you have an extra half hour to do any number of worthwhile things. You could go for a walk one day, catch up on emails the next. You could get a head start on dinner; write notes to family, friends or clients; organize your bills or closet or briefcase. Whatever! A minor 30-minute tweak to your lifestyle can be the first step to a major overhaul in your life.
QUOTE
“Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right.”
—Oprah Winfrey
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