Here we are entering yet another new year. What does that mean to me as I sit here on the GO train heading home from another day at the office? Nothing, notta, zero, zilch.
If one more person asks me, "What are your New Year's resolutions?" I might blow a gasket.
Here is what I have for you;
New Year's Revelations!
I always find it funny that people make resolutions... we all know the lack of success associated with this annual march to "change," just talk to anyone about their resolutions from 2015 or go online and look up statistics on the topic. Let me save you the time; a study done in forbes magazine shows that only 8 percent of people who make resolutions are successful, certainly not a great success rate.
Personally, I believe that anything that you put off until tomorrow which could begin today is often doomed for failure. Every day should be open for resolution... I hear so many people saying things like: I will lose weight in the new year, save more money, quit smoking or be more organized, the list goes on and on.
Listen, I am not the owner of getthingsdone.com but I don't wait for a new day or a new year to start or stop anything. It's unrealistic and is the greatest form of procrastination. Every single day that you wake up breathing is a new day. Every day can be a new year!
I have certainly fallen prey to the procrastination bug but my mental self-talk never allows it to prevail. In December 2015 I thought about getting a personal trainer and my first thought was to wait until the New Year. Why? Was I planning on being so slothful that it would be a waste of time? What was my excuse? I had no good reason so I started on Dec. 15 and have been working out with this trainer 2 times a week since.
I believe that both confidence and success is gained or lost in those moments between idea and action.
What are your thoughts in those moments, hours or days within this time frame? We all have great ideas and many of them never come to fruition due to the often negative self-talk that occurs between idea and action. So, we create start dates and then announce them to the world and then, based on New Year's resolution statistics, fail 82 percent of the time: "I will stop smoking January 1," "I will apply for a job once my resume is perfect" or "I will lose 20 pounds after Christmas." We are constantly derailing our own success by making excuses and deferring what we could do today.
The question is: How do you change this? I use different methods to keep my goals on track. The most impactful strategy that I have learned, adopted and implemented came from a talk by Tim Hockey, one of the group heads of TD Bank whom I heard speak in Palm Springs a few years ago. His share seemed simple and in the form of a story yet it was so impactful. I admired this man's story of starting out as a teller and his documented aspirations of running TD Bank. What an inspiring leader he is. I followed what Tim Hockey said that day; he told us a story about his grandfather taking him out fishing and he forgot to pack the poles. His grandfather used this experience to show him how his failure to plan (packing the fishing poles) led to the inevitable plan of failure (how can we fish with no pole?). He taught Tim to start to prepare, to plan, to document what he wanted to do, when, how, and to have a clear vision.
Today and every six months I do this. I break my goals into categories such as: career, relationships, education, home, spiritual, fitness, etc. I set clear goals; I even put down exact dates for acquiring. I will then visualize each of these things already in my life then I put this document away and I won't look at it for the next six months to a year. Since I started this practice the results have been amazing, here are a couple of highlights;
- Qualified for the Boston Marathon on my first marathon
- Completed an Ironman
- 3 job promotions within 6 years (these would happen within months of target)
- Buying a new car
- Started blogging on The Huffington Post
- Public speaking to youth
Remember success is created in the moments between idea and action.
What internal dialogue are you having with yourself during these times?
Your thoughts create your feelings.
Your feelings create your actions and reactions.
Always pay attention to your thoughts.
Now get out there and have a New Year's revelation of your own and embrace your awesome self!