I have actually succeeded on a few of my New Year’s resolutions…over the past 5 years. I believe that there IS a secret to achieving these often ‘far-fetched’ goals that we set for ourselves. In fact, so much of what organizations do to try to motivate their employees to accomplish goals, applies here. Some do it well, others do it horribly.
(1) Don’t make resolutions by yourself. You will either set a goal for yourself that is extremely hard to achieve and you’ll forget about it within 2 months, or you will set a goal that isn’t sustainable once you’ve achieved it. It takes courage to find out from someone else what they think you should try to accomplish this year. In fact, others may be a better judge of what you may need to work on, since they are the ones that perceive you, observe your actions, and bear the brunt of your actions at times. My wife is my best supporter and critic – I should use that to my advantage and be ready and accepting of the authentic and unfiltered feedback – because she WILL help me sustain my goal.
(2) Be clear and specific about your goals. The top goal is always “I want to lose weight” – well, how much? How are you going to do that and remain eating? Once you get there, then what?
(3) You need to have a partner to hold you accountable. If you aren’t reminded of your progress from an unbiased source, then you aren’t being true to yourself or your goal. If you want to ‘cut back on desserts’, I’m not saying have someone slap you on the wrist every time you reach for a cookie….but perhaps to say something (without taking offense) when you’ve eaten half the box of oreo cookies.
(4) This year starts TODAY. Perhaps we feel like we can set ANY goal at all since there’s a whole 365 days before we have to achieve it. If you want to quit smoking this year, you can’t smoke for 364 days and then quit….I would think that’s not really what you were going for. Walk the talk. If you set a goal, achieve it TODAY, and sustain it for 364 days.
(5) Celebrate the small wins with multiple performance reviews. Every 3 months, check in with your accountability partner. If you’ve made progress, celebrate it. Go to dinner, go hit a round of golf, shop for shoes, do your nails. Celebrating the small wins is MORE important than reaching the peak – it’ll help you sustain those goals too. Party poppers are fun to pull even if it’s not New Year’s Eve!
People need to stretch their minds and their capabilities in order to achieve greatness. Make sure you’re stretching in a way that makes you try something different or new to make you accomplish your goal, or else you’ll find the journey quite dull.
What’s the secret to achieving YOUR New Year’s Resolution?
Akshay facilitates workshops on leadership, communication, and teamwork for adults and children with Ziksana Consulting. Read his Behavior Blotter for more on his work and his observations. If you have any ideas for stories, please contact Akshay at [email protected]
