Okay, now it is halfway through January. Have you stuck to your New Year's Resolution? Or have you been waiting patiently for this blog to teach you how to?
So many people have already given up on their resolutions. Identifying what you care enough about is not enough. Sadly, even knowing WHY you care so much about that thing is often not enough either. The Why helps a lot because it makes it a more personal objective, but no matter how exhilarated and motivated one is about something, the thing still has to be accomplished.......which brings us to the How.
The fragile thing about New Year's Resolutions is how heavily any kind of change depends on the clear cohesion of What, Why, and How.
It is possible that one knows How to achieve a certain resolution, like who to talk to and how to schedule out the new habits, etc., but they still may fall short because they have not stopped and defined the Why. Just as knowing the Why is not enough to get the job done, knowing the How without the Why's motivation will not get you very far.
If you want to refresh your What and your Why before reading on and learning the How, click here and here.
The Six Step Strategy
There are a million methods out there for managing your time and accomplishing your goals. To-do lists and planners galore will offer you many ways to divide up your task and schedule it out. The following Six Step Strategy is one of those million, but is connected directly to the What and the Why you established about your resolutions. It is not just a general task management system. It relies heavily on the motivation that will get you through the year and the task.
1. Break up the year into 12 months.
Use these 12 months as benchmarks for yourself. What do you want to have achieved by the end of each month? Do not put pressure on yourself to have all 12 labeled. Allow yourself to fill those in as you go. Maybe start with something six months from now and your year end goal.
SPOILER ALERT: THOSE FAR OFF GOALS WILL DEFINITELY CHANGE AS YOU GO ALONG AS YOU ACHIEVE ALL THE SMALLER GOALS.
2. Next, brainstorm some weekly goals.
Are there certain events or special weeks that you are aware of throughout the year that can also act as benchmark deadlines. Is there anything that you want to make sure to have achieved by then?
3. Now, look at weekly goals in terms of each set of seven days.
What do you want to make sure is done during each normal week? What habits do you hope to start and maintain?
4. List the specific needs you have to reach those weekly goals.
What must you have in place to do so? In a weight loss example, consider who you need to call, what gym to attend, what classes to take, what day they are on, how to find a good nutritionist, etc.
5. Make a list of the order in which you would like these tasks to be set in stone.
In the weight loss example, are you already a member at a gym? Do you want to contact the gym first or find out about nutrition first? Make a list like a grocery list that maps out the order of these little things that must be in place for you to begin working toward the resolution.
6. Start working.
Human beings get caught up here because they feel so accomplished with organizing that they do not want to put the effort into the actual work. That is incorrect. This is when the support system and appropriate external accountability comes into play. Ask that person for how to get over the hurdle to start. Or ask your personal trainer or nutritionist.
ALL YOU NEED IS THAT LITTLE PUSH THROUGH THE FIRST THRESHOLD OF THE GOAL.
Once you have felt what it is like to start in on the HOW and you have the overall WHAT and WHY clearly nailed down, you will have a super specific experiential picture of what your year will look like, broken down into realistic chunks for you to achieve.
