Remember your goal and why you chose it.
It has officially been 6 months since the beginning of the year when many of us made our New Year’s Resolution. What was your goal? Think back to what changes you decided to make for yourself. This was a goal you set with the intention of completing it within the year. Why? According to Statistic Brain, 45% of Americans usually make a New Year’s resolution. Of that 45% only 8% find success with their year-end goals. So how can ensure that you will make that 8%?
Realign yourself and utilize a support system.
If you haven’t started making progress towards your goal, think about why. Did you face some serious roadblocks? Or were they just excuses? Take responsibility for your accomplishments as well as your faults.
In an article written by Kristi Hedges of Forbes, Why Your New Year's Resolution Will Fail by February 1, she examines why our resolutions wont make it throught the six month benchmark.
“We fail because we always expected to. We live up (or in this case down) to our own expectations. Then we can pull out all of our familiar excuses of being too busy, overwhelmed, or inadequate to face the challenge. It also plays into the cynical zeitgeist which supports the gravitational pull of the status quo.”
One of the best ways to combat these excuses is to confide in a friend or colleague for moral support and some accountability. Making a resolution public may help you adjust the social behavior that is keeping you from accomplishing your goals.
What events in the past year helped guide you in this direction?
Think back to a catalyst moment, or the smaller experiences along the way, which helped you, make a decision to change. Do the same conditions still apply? If not maybe the resolution is no longer valid, but if the issue still exists outline for yourself how it has affected your life and what benefits change will bring.
How far have you come?
Give yourself a timeline with small benchmarks to accomplish that will ultimately meet the goal of the overall resolution. This way you can manage your effort, progress and realistic expectations.
For example, if you have decided to look for a different job opportunity…
- Set a date by which you will have researched your market or any new markets you are considering.
- Plan to have applied to a number of positions within the indusrty.
- Set aside some time for follow up and reevaluation of your efforts.
It’s never too late to get started! As we end the half-way point, stop, reevaluate and consider the next best steps. For some it will be getting the ball rolling and for others it may just take some reorganizing but at the end of the day the only thing preventing you from meeting your target is you.
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