Why You Should Turn Your New Year Resolutions into Actions
Well, the new year is hear. Just in case you missed it, here is the article that appeared in my weekly column “Succeeding” today in the Monitor. Enjoy and let me know what you think.
celebrate life
Ethan
www.AllSuccessSecrets.com
……………………………..
Congratulations! You celebrated Christmas, survived a knock out on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day is coming. I imagine you will make New Year resolutions. But how can you transform those resolutions into tangible things or outcomes? Turn resolutions into plans and actions. First, an email I received early December from one of the regular readers of this column. Let’s call him Mike.
“Your latest on action …the best yet. I set 25 goals this year. Have achieved about 60 per cent. I find this listing of goals extremely useful. Perhaps you could advise your readers also”. This is good advice from a gentleman who has lived what he is advising us to do. Let’s see whether there is any documented research to back up his comment.
In his classic What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School, Mark McCormack shares the study conducted between 1979 and 1989 of graduates of the MBA programme at Harvard.
The question was, “Have you set clear, written goals for your future and plans to accomplish them?”. Three per cent had written goals and plans, 13 had goals but not written and 84 per cent had no specific goals. 10s years later, researchers followed up the same group and this is what they found.
13 per cent who had goals but not written were earning on average twice as much as the graduates who didn’t have goals at all. Now, it gets even better for the three per cent who had clear goals and plans written down. They were earning on average ten times as much as the other 97 per cent of all graduates together. I can only imagine which category you would want to get into.
Write your 2009 goals down. You will most likely put yourself in the top three per cent. Once you write the goals, have a plan of action. A goal without a plan is a mere wish. That’s one of the reasons why many New Year resolutions don’t come true.
I have a friend who achieves more in a week than what most people achieve in a month. One of his strengths is planning systematically. “Ethan, I am a good driver of projects. I get things done.
I prefer planning my things systematically and I let whoever is working with me know in advance what I want achieved. In a simple step by step manner,” he asserted. Quite frankly, I am more of a ‘big picture’ person than the systematic and detailed type. It’s one of my major goals in 2009. To plan a bit more.
Some action pointers for you. Get a note book or writing pad and answer the following questions before Thursday morning.
It’s time to review 2008 and look forward to 2009. What did you do well that you should continue doing in 2009?
What do you need to do differently to produce greater results in 2009? What skills gaps do you have that you need to work on to achieve your outcomes? What new habits do you need to adopt that will put you to the next level in your life?
By the way, when we meet 10 years from now, what wonderful stories will you tell me as a result of writing your goals down with specific plans and following through?
I am really excited about 2009 in terms of what it has in store for us. In the same positive spirit, I wish you an amazing new year of 2009 full of joy, peace, love and abundance!
Ethan Musolini is the CEO of Success Africa, motivational speaker and HR consultant.
ethan@Success-Africa.com
