New Year's Eve has always been a time for evaluating the past and setting goals for the coming year. It's a time to reflect on changes we want and a time to resolve to do something about it. Since making a resolution without taking action is useless, this post outlines a simple “how to follow through” to achieve your 2012 goals.
Creating a strategic action plan for each resolution will help you attain each of your goals. The following steps will guide you in building a focused plan, and empower you to make good on all of your New Year’s resolutions:
- Conduct a thorough evaluation of the past year and what you want to change – having a clear understanding of the current situation will help you in assessing what needs to be done. And be brutally honest with yourself, what’s working, what’s not, and what should be done differently.
- Write your goal down on paper – this solidifies it as a real goal and not just a fleeting thought. Also, be realistic and set goals that are actually achievable through your effort rather than a dream of chance like winning the lottery.
- Clarify the purpose – be as specific as possible with your underlying reasons for wanting to accomplish this goal. Having a strong motivating reason will keep you focused and determined when things aren’t going as smoothly as anticipated.
- Breakdown larger goals into the smaller tasks that must be completed in order to succeed – a well-defined plan of action will help you stay on track with what you need to be doing. It also serves as encouragement as you review all that you’ve accomplished so far.
- Create a timeline for each task to be completed – this holds you accountable for your actions while keeping you on track towards accomplishing the final objective.
Whatever your goal is, it’s important to continually evaluate the current situation against your future goal and be flexible enough to change accordingly if challenges arise or an opportunity knocks.
Remember, you can either make excuses or you can make your dreams come true, but you can't make both so get moving and get a fresh start for 2012!
