The Key to Reaching Your Goals for the New Year
It’s that time of year again.
Many of us will soon sit down and reflect on the year’s accomplishments. For many, this ritual creates a never-ending cycle of anticipation and disappointment. Some people perform this ritual religiously; others, such as myself, don’t write “new year’s resolutions”; some people, unfortunately, do not pause at all to consider where they’re headed or where they want to be in the next 12 months. But whether written or not; whether conscience or not; it’s a time for reflection and planning. It’s easy to feel like there’s a clean slate at the start of a new year.
Whatever they are, I’ve discovered the key to reaching next year’s goals.
THE KEY
I discovered it the other day on a morning walk.
My wife and I decided that we want our children to exercise every day. So just before Thanksgiving, we started taking a morning walk together. All of us.
The kids are young (4-1/2, 3 and 20 months) so it’s an adventure getting everyone ready, but it’s fun. Instead of walking, the two boys insist on riding their bikes whenever possible. We are confident that if we make this a habit, exercising will become a normal part of their lives that will probably continue when they are older.
So what does a morning walk have to do with reaching a new year’s goal? Everything.
When crossing a street, I always tell my 3-year-old that there’s one thing he must do: go fast in order to make it up the ramp on the other side. If he doesn’t speed up, he always gets stuck at the bottom of the ramp.
It’s easier to continue something than it is to start something. As Newton’s first law of motion states: a body in motion tends to stay in motion; a body at rest tends to stay at rest.
So here’s the Key: You must create momentum going into the new year.
In order to create momentum, you must start on your new year’s goal NOW, so that it becomes a habit. Researchers don’t totally agree on how long it takes to form a habit, but we know it takes at least 21 days to do it.
USING THE KEY
So what should you be doing for the next 21 days? In order to hit the ground running on January 2 (I assume you’re taking the 1st off), these are the things you must do.
Clarify Your Long Term Goals
While doing the daily grind, it’s easy to get off-track sometimes. During the past year, you were faced with many obstacles that may have altered your intended course. You may have been presented with unforeseen opportunities. Over the course of this year, I’ve been presented with several “great opportunities” that supposedly fit “my skill set”. But I realized that every opportunity has a cost. And I could not pursue certain opportunities and my goals at the same time. Entrepreneurs may not want to admit it, but we can’t pursue everything at once. Maybe the following year……
Verify whether the obstacles and opportunities of this past year pushed you off course. Re-adjust accordingly.
Create good habits
Do you want to blog every day? Do you want to exercise 3 times a week? How many prospective clients do you want to call on every day? Which days are dedicated to networking? How much revenue do you want to generate on a monthly basis?
Identify the habits that you need to develop in order to reach your long term goals.
Create systems
In order to develop habits, you need to have systems in place to make those habits a “no-brainer”. I used to work at an office where the gym was practically on my way home. Working out on a regular basis was quite simple at that time. I simply packed a bag every day and stopped on the way home.
You must create systems that allow you to develop your habits easily. Create a list of prospects and clients you’ll call tomorrow. Create this list the night before. Determine the best day(s) to have face-to-face networking meetings and when someone suggests, “Let’s do lunch”, you’ll have a day dedicated to do so. If this week is full, go to the following week. Create a system to track your sales calls, who you met and when you followed up with them, etc.
Following these three steps will go a long way in helping you to meet your goals for next year.
Important: Don’t just take the next 21 days to think and plan. For the next 21 days, you must actually DO those things that you want to do next year. The habit comes from the doing. This is the key.
Warning: The end of the year is the most difficult time to establish routines. The “normal” schedule goes totally out the window for most people. You can’t depend on your customers, clients or suppliers being available during the second half of December.
What other suggestions do you have to reach your goals for next year?
Until next time…Go Boldly!®
Dino Herbert
Author of the forthcoming, “Business Jump School: 15 Drills You Must Master Before Starting a Business.”
www.dinoherbert.com