Happy New 2019, as we review 3 Steps to be Successful in 2019 and beyond. If you’re anything like me, then you LOVE fresh starts. And, while I’m a firm believer that we should take action and make positive changes regardless of what the calendar says, I also love the feeling of a brand new day, new week, new month but mainly a new year.
Now, we all know what new years resolutions are — when you say “this will be the year I finally do 1 2 3…” and then (altogether far too often) proceed to let yet another year pass by without doing that thing that you so want to do. And it’s for this very reason that the trend of intentionally NOT making new years resolutions has become so prevalent in recent years.
I think, though, that it’s important to be careful not to throw the good out with the bad. Because while failed resolutions feel yucky and don’t help us become the people we want to be, we’d all agree that being resolute to improve ourselves in specific ways and reach our goals is a positive thing.
With that in mind, let us take a quick look at the 3 steps to be successful in 2019 and beyond. Set a goal, make a plan and resolute to stick to it. It sounds simple, doesn’t it? Let us take a look at the difference between resolutions, goals, and plans. Because even if one of these isn’t for one, another may well be.
RESOLUTION is a firm decision to do or not to do something.
The definition is pretty clear! A resolution is “a firm decision to do or not do something.” Typically, on new years these play out in the form of:
“Going to the gym often.”
“Losing weight.”
“To better my communication skills.”
“Going early to bed and waking up early.”
With resolutions, there’s no talk of how you’re going to do the thing you want to do, and nothing to help you break out of your old (firmly ingrained) habits. Are resolutions bad? Not at all! But they can be a bit lacking.
PLAN is a detailed proposal for doing or achieving something.
Surprise! Plans and resolutions are not the same thing!
If a resolution is your commitment to doing (or NOT doing) something and a plan is the how-to. Does that mean plans are better than resolutions? Again, no. Detailed “how-to” (the plan) won’t get anything done if you don’t also commit (the resolution).
Plans are good (even necessary), but not better (or worse) than resolutions. Just different.
A GOAL is the object of a person’s ambition or effort; an aim or desired result. It’s where we are hoping our plans land us.
Are goals better than plans or resolutions? Again, No, just different! But a goal without a plan is just a wish. At this point, you might be thinking, “Well, this is interesting, but… what should I DO with this information? Do I have to make resolutions, and goals, and plans? That sounds like a lot!”
Well, I actually WOULD recommend that you use all three because they are the 3 steps to be successful in 2019 and beyond. But I understand that could feel overwhelming. And that’s definitely NOT what we want, because we rarely do things that feel overwhelming. So, let me give you a simple example of how these systems could work together to help you accomplish whatever you’re interested in achieving:
1) Your Goal could be to lose 20kg by August this year.
2) Your Plan to reach your goal of losing 20kg by August this year will be to train for one hour every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning and eat low carb meals.
3) You will resolve to commit to your training schedule until August, at which time you would have hopefully lost 20 kg.
If you want to use this little system for yourself, you can follow these steps:
1) Define a goal. What do you want to achieve? (Extra credit if you also give yourself a deadline like in the example above, is losing 20 kg by August.
2) Create a simple plan. What do you need to do to reach your goal?
3) Resolve to stick to your plan until you reach your goal.
Finally, a pro tip: don’t set too many goals. In fact, for best results, work on 1 – 3 goals at a time.
What do you think of these 3 steps to be successful in 2019? Will you give it a try? If so, leave a comment below and let me know: What are your BIGGEST goals for 2019?
