The Set Up :: Realism with a Why You set yourself up to crush your New Year’s Resolutions when you start with goals that are both realistic and are connected to your bigger WHY. Apart from those two things, resolutions fizzle and fade.
A passion can ignite a temporary commitment, but if it is too far off from your typical routine you won’t keep it up. When you set up a goal that is not realistic, it will be a burden and you will hate it. Instead, look at your goals in terms of your current lifestyle and reality. Set goals that is comfortable enough to achieve and challenging enough to push you.
No goal will be achieved without being directly connected to your WHY. What is the reason and the drive behind your goal? What are you doing it for? Why should you keep investing time and energy when there are so many other things to do? You get yourself set up for success when you set a resolution that is Realistic with a clear WHY.
The Strengths: Make your HOW unique to you Whether you are an organized planner or a creative piler, your goals will not become a reality unless you write them down. If you don’t write down your goals, you don’t even know if you have met them, and you don’t have any accountability to them. Writing down your goals increases your chances of success. Once they are written, your Strengths will direct your path of least resistance toward meeting your goals. If you have dominant executing-oriented Strengths like Achiever or Discipline, you will have the internal motivation to make it happen, because you have the ability to make your goals a reality. Well-defined goals linked to a clear why will energise you and propel you into action.
If you have dominant influencing-oriented Strengths, like Competition or Significance, you will have the desire to turn your goals into a competition with yourself or a partner . You will strive to get dominance and that will give you significance, motivating you to complete your goals.
If you have dominant relational-oriented Strengths, like Includer or Connectedness you will do best when you engage with others when you complete your goals. You can get an accountability partner, and includes other people in the process. By including other people in fulfilling your goals, you will get the best out of yourself and everybody else. If you have dominant strategic thinking-oriented Strengths like Analytical or Futuristic, you want to be sure that your goals are Calendared specifically and to keep a “scorecard” to analyse your progress. Dreaming about “what could be” and planning your next set of goals as you complete the previous will bring the best out of you. Whatever you do, be sure that your resolutions and goals align with the way you are wired. Apart from your Strengths, your resolutions will feel burdensome and oppressive. When the process aligns with your Strengths, it will be a joy to achieve them.
The Setbacks: Start Small and Re-evaluate
Setbacks are unavoidable. There will be days when backward progress overcomes the forward momentum. When those setbacks come upon you, check back in with your WHY. Remind yourself of the driving reasons behind your resolutions and goals. Evaluate how it is going and how you are feeling.
Set yourself up for success in 2021—make realistic goals, attached to your WHY, with processes aligned to your Strengths.
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