Are You Sick Of Procrastination – Do This To Make 2022 Your Best Year Ever

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No doubt we can all agree on this one fact – 2020 was a real bummer of a year.

Okay – With that out of the way – what are you going to do to make 2021 REALLY great?

To make it YOUR year?

Are you feeling your heart sink even as you are reading these lines – very well knowing that you won’t be doing ANYTHING to go after your dreams…

Yeah sure, you’ll be doing your goals, and vision boards, and the resolutions (just like I used to do every year!), and started all hot and motivated in January…

And by the end of February it was same old – same old, back in the routine and not going anywhere.

Because procrastination is going to screw up your best resolutions, goal-setting and intentions for the New Year…just like it did in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019…

  • …have I rubbed enough salt into your wounds of self-loathing now???
  • …because another year of procrastination and perfectionism kept you from pursuing your goals, resolutions and dreams – and you’re sick of it?
  • …because no matter what you did or tried, you still ended up in the same crappy situation you’ve found yourself 12 months before?

The good news is – you are not alone!

In fact, every single one of us procrastinates or has procrastinated at some time or another (yes – especially me, I’m known to be a Master – Procastinator and Master – Perfectionist, if you could graduate on this crap – I’d have 3 PhD’s!

But I’ve overcome it and because I’m just an average person like you – you can do it too easily and quickly. Read on because I’m giving you the blueprint, the perfect template to go after your goals and achieve them – so read on and find out what I did and simply follow me on that.

It’s a little known fact and possibly the one-and-only- positive fact about Procrastination that it can add an element of excitement and motivation to a project or goal by making you rush against a deadline. Some of us truly work better under this type of pressure. Personally – I hate it. Because if procrastination is just another way that you tend to self-sabotage, it’s a bad habit that serves no good purpose in your life! Best to just try to get rid of procrastination altogether.

There are lots of different methods and techniques that I use to end procrastination, but remember that since procrastination is a habit, changing that habit and replacing it with more positive habits takes time. Consistency is the key here, as consistently practicing the new habits will lead to them being the preferred choice when you have a decision to make – to procrastinate or not to procrastinate.

Chronic procrastination WILL cause you all kinds of problems in both your personal and your professional life. Imagine how your partner feels when they’ve been hoping that you’ll do something that needs to be done, but you don’t do it.

Ever been in that situation before? Yeah – I have plenty of times, and it sucks!

And how about the fights that happen because they go and do whatever it is themselves and you feel like crap because you diddled around and now they did it and you feel like a total loser?

What about at work… maybe there’s a project you’re working on that needs to be wrapped up, but because you fear you’re not knowledgeable enough, you continue to put it off until there is simply no way that you can complete it. Procrastination causes you to feel guilty, worried, fearful and stressed. And, it is a choice you make. Keep THAT thought in mind…that it is your bloody choice! I know I made that ’choice’ waaaaay to many times…

I’m going to give you some quality, heavy duty ammo in your ‘war against procrastination’. To that end, I’ll discuss 18 different tips, techniques, and tactics to help end procrastination in your life – permanently!

18 tips sounds like a lot – and – hey – I don’t wanna put you off the rest of this info so all I’m saying is that you pick and choose the ones that are a fit and will work for you.

Add just a few of these to your daily, weekly, or monthly routines, and watch your productivity skyrocket because you’ve chosen not to procrastinate. I know in my heart you’ll be amazed at the results you get.

  1. Write down a list of the tasks you’ve been putting off. Keep this list in front of you, because “out of sight is out of mind.” Tackle each task, one by one, with intense focus, until you begin to see less and less of things to tick off on your list. Just crossing things off of your to-do list WILL be incredibly motivating, I promise you this, this single action was and absolute game changer for me. It’s a visual reminder that you really got to work and did what you were supposed to do.

 

  1. Decide whether your procrastination is coming from fear, anger, or sadness. This could be a bit of a tricky one for you – it might be uncomfortable for you, but will help you get to the heart of why you procrastinate. The reasons are different for everyone, and they may run very deep. Even things that happened to you during childhood can create a tendency toward procrastination. So examine these feelings closely.

 

  1. When you’ve finally pinpointed the emotion behind your procrastination, do something physically dramatic to get rid of it. For instance, if you’re angry because you need to do something you don’t like doing, go punch a punching bag or a pillow, or grab a thick, dead tree branch and beat it on the ground. Doing this gets rid of the pent-up emotion and makes it easier for you to move forward, unencumbered by that emotion.
  2. Learn to identify negative thoughts about a task, and when you have a negative thought, stop and turn it around into something positive. There is always a silver lining to every cloud – you just need to be able to recognize it.
  4. Take the tasks you’re putting off, and break them down into more easily accomplished steps. It’s far easier to stay focused on small tasks than enormous goals, so breaking down your project will allow you to get much more done. This a biggie!
  1. Allow yourself rewards for each step you accomplish – even the little ones. You’re gonna love this one – Figure out what motivates you, personally, and set up a timeline- so when you accomplish a step on your schedule, you get your reward. This is an excellent way to retrain your brain to see the actions you take as very motivating – and rewarding.

 

  1. Expect the unexpected, and prepare for inevitable obstacles along the way. Look at the tasks and goals you’ve broken down, and figure out where the holes are and what could go wrong. When you’re prepared, you’re much more able to deal with the inevitable setbacks that will occur. By the way – expect 20% of your day to turn to chaos – once you accept this, the chaos loses its grip on you and you just deal with it calmly and take it in your stride.

 

  1. Expect to feel resistance to doing your tasks. You’ll feel tired, or in a bad mood, you’ll get a headache, or something will miraculously happen that puts you off the course of your intended goal. Don’t let any of those damn ‘mind monkeys’ take hold. See them for what they are, and respond strongly by staying on-task.

 

  1. Let yourself feel good when you accomplish a task that’s on your list. Getting work done simply feels good. It’s satisfying. Allow yourself to bask in that satisfaction, and that feeling will spur you on in moments where you’re less-than-motivated. Celebrate your wins!

 

  1. Make others aware of your goals. The more people who know what your goals are, the more motivated you’ll be to accomplish them. They’ll inevitably ask you about the goals you’ve told them about, and knowing that will happen will keep you on-track and moving forward because you’ll want to be able to give excellent progress reports! It’s all about being accountable – because it is SOOOO easy to give up on a quiet, secret goal you took at the beginning of the year…and then quietly let it die and nobody knows about it…but the moment you let your friends, colleagues and family know about it – you know you are accountable, they will ask you about it. Take note – this could be a bit scary – but hey, only the scary stuff actually makes us do serious s**t that helps us achieve goals, so don’t skip this one!

 

  1. Change the physical place where you work when you’re working on your goals. Create a workspace that inspires you, not one that makes you want to go and take a nap. And when you do change your environment, know that the “inspiration” will wear off after awhile, and you’ll need to do it again. Change it up, and create motivation where there wasn’t any!

 

  1. Create a calendar specifically for your big goals. Write down deadlines. Then write down smaller goals and tasks, and the dates you’d like to have those done on. Create a complete timeline for the project at hand. This is going to tell you whether you’re on track at a glance and will help you plan for upcoming tasks so that you’re ready for them. It’ll also motivate you when you see days, and their subsequent tasks marked off.

  1. Eliminate all distractions as often as possible while you’re working on your tasks.

 

That means logging off of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and all the other social media sites that want to hog your attention and give you absolutely NOTHING in return.

 

It means logging yourself off the internet (unless, of course, being on the internet is necessary for you to complete the task at hand),

 

Turning off your phone and email – switch your phone to ‘Flight Mode’.

 

The last one is an absolute game changer to get things done that will make your life better – period!

 

And you can trust me – no one is going to absolutely have to get ahold of you right at this very minute. We got along just fine without the damn Attention-Grabbing-Devices a few years ago and the world didn’t end.

 

Eliminating distractions is one of the most powerful ways you can increase your productivity. Make it easy for yourself to get work done by allowing yourself the room to focus exclusively on the task that is going to improve your life.

 

  1. Surround yourself with those who inspire you, and are at a higher level than you are. By doing this, you’ll strive to reach their level, and you’ll also get a first-hand look at how they work, what they do, and how they think. Hanging around inspiring people will influence your behavior and motivate you!

 

  1. Get an accountability partner. Remember that I talked about accountability in point 10? Seek out someone who has similar goals as you do, and you’ll learn a lot from each other along the way. Having someone to be accountable to will help you stay on track, stay motivated, and work out problems when you come up against road blocks. It also helps if you have different skill sets, so you can learn techniques from each other for things you may not already know how to do.

 

  1. Is there someone you know who has already accomplished what you want to accomplish? Connect with them, and let them know why you’re doing so. Seeing someone doing what you want to do and living the way you want to live is incredibly motivating, and you’ll learn from them, too.

 

  1. If procrastination seems to be chronic, maybe your goals need to be reviewed. They may not be in line with where you want to be any longer, and you may need to change them to match the work you’re doing. Consider what you want to achieve, what it’s going to take to get there, and whether doing what you’re currently doing is going to get the job done. If the answer is no, realign your actions with your goals.

 

  1. Become acutely aware of your perfectionism and where it thwarts your forward momentum. You may think perfectionism makes you do a better job, but it’s far more likely that you overcomplicate and overthink your tasks so that they’re never really complete. Work to end perfectionism in your life, and you’ll be simply amazed at how much you’re able to accomplish. Always remember – 80% is more than good enough!

 

What it really boils down to is that you need to simply do it. Do whatever it takes to motivate, pressure, or cajole yourself into doing it, but get it done whatever it happens to be. The only cure for your inaction (procrastination) is you taking action, and I know you’ll find that once you start getting used to being in action, procrastination seems like a complete waste of time.

 

Perhaps you think you may need a little bit of help with overcoming procrastination, so I suggest you check out this free report on goals I put together for you. It will surely help you moving in the right direction.

 

And when you feel you are at a point in your life where it’s time to stop fluffing around and go after your goals for good, check out my easy and quick way to achieve your goals in 2021 for good here.

 

You’ll be amazed how easy it is when you follow my proven system to eliminate procrastination and achieve your goals – finally!

Let’s make 2021 Your Best Year Ever – let’s work together to make it happen. I can’t wait to see you on the other side.

What Are Your SMART Goals For 2022? Here Is Your Complete Guide!

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Your SMART Goal Setting and Action Planning GUIDE offers goal setting tips for you and your business. And it also gives you a deeper understanding of goal setting to help you.

Starting with an overview of the SMART Acronym and a helpful SMART graphic, this guide goes deeply into each element of SMART goal setting.


So, What is a SMART Goal?
A SMART Goal is a goal where the SMART criteria have been met.
SMART Goals Stand For:
• Specific (being clear and specific makes goals and actions easier to achieve – and start!)
• Measurable (helps you know when a goal or action is complete and measure progress)
• Actionable (ensures you have direct control over the actions needed to achieve the goal)
• Realistic (avoid overwhelm and unnecessary stress and frustration by making the goal realistic)
• Timebound (helps us stay focused and motivated, inspiring us with a date to work towards)

TIP: A SMART goal is easier to achieve (and track progress for), because it’s clearly defined.

A Little SMART History

The SMART Goals acronym began as a set of criteria for managers to set better goals within organizations. But the SMART acronym is so powerful (and catchy) that it began to be used in personal goal setting too.

When were SMART Goals created?

The first reference to SMART Goals (according to Wikipedia) is in 1981 in a magazine called Management Review.

Who created SMART Goals?

George T. Doran is the creator or SMART Goals. He wrote a paper: There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management’s goals and objectives. In this paper he discussed the challenges of documenting goals and objectives for management within organizations.

 

George believed it was the goal combined with the action plan that was most important. In this paper George T. Doran’s SMART Acronym was:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Assignable – identify who will do it
• Realistic
• Time-related

Interestingly, the A (Assignable in George’s acronym above) is the only letter that has substantially changed in the switchover to personal goal setting. In personal goal setting “Assignable” doesn’t make sense as the goal is already assigned. And because taking action is so important, I have chosen A – Actionable as the replacement A in the SMART criteria.

SMART Goal Setting

SMART goal setting is an art! We start with a vision or an idea and gradually refine it, making it more specific and measurable so that it becomes a goal we can take action on.

SMART Goals are Specific

Have you ever struggled to get started on a task because you don’t really understand what it is, or the task seems too big and fuzzy?
Well, you’re not alone! Many people struggle with getting started on their goals – simply because they haven’t made their goals specific enough.
But it’s well worth the effort: The more specific goals are, the easier they are to achieve! When we’re clear on what we want, it makes it easy to make decisions and take action because we know exactly what we’re trying to do.

SMART Goals are Measurable

How will you KNOW you’ve achieved your goal unless you can measure it?
If you can’t prove you’ve completed the goal then it’s not measurable – which means it’s not a SMART goal. Measurability is a very important part of making your goals specific.

3 TIPS to Make Goals SMART – and Measurable

1. One way to find your measure is to ask “Why am I doing this? Why bother?”. This will help you identify why you’re doing it – and to identify the measures you need to be sure your goals are successfully completed.

2. Your measure could be a financial amount, a percentage increase or some kind of count. Note that for some goals and actions, the only measure is a “yes” or “no” to completion of the task. Ie. your new website is live, or you have registered your business name.

3. If you don’t know how to prove to someone that the goal is complete, then your goal measure is not specific enough. The “acid test” for measurability is to ask “How do I prove I’ve completed this goal?” So rather than “Create a new product” your measurable goal could be “The new product is available to buy on your website”. And rather than “Finish my book”, your measurable goal is “The final manuscript has been sent to the editor.” Clear – and provable!

Measurability is important for Actions too (actions are really just small goals!)

SMART Goals are Actionable

We can’t control fate – or other people. For a goal to be SMART it must be actionable by us, and within our control. Otherwise it’s not a goal, it’s a wish!

Actionable Goals

Actionable goals are those you can DO something about ie. where there are a number of actions – within your control – that lead to achievement of that goal.
Also Make Your Goals Action-oriented…
Making a goal action-oriented also encourages you to write ACTIVE and not passive goals.

SMART Goals are Realistic

It’s important to feel GOOD about your goals. When we set ourselves a goal that’s out of our reach we often end up feeling overwhelmed, we self-judge, and sometimes we give up altogether. Truly SMART goals feel great!

This means it’s important to factor in existing commitments and lifestyle when setting goals. SMART goals and actions need to be challenging enough to inspire you. AND they need to be realistic enough that you believe you can achieve it. It’s all about setting yourself up for success.

4 TIPS to Make Goals SMART – and Realistic

1. POSSIBILITY: Is it physically possible to complete the Goal or Action in question? While stretch goals can be inspiring even if they’re unlikely – this is rarely true if they’re impossible!

2. CHUNKING DOWN: Struggling with a big action or goal? Break it down.

For Goals ask: “What would be a great stepping stone?”, “What goal could I set that would prepare me or give me knowledge or experience that will help me achieve this bigger goal?” and “What could I achieve in a month, 3 months or year that would get me closer to my dream?”

For Actions ask: “What could I start or spend a chunk of time on?” and “What would be an easy first step, preparation action, request for help or action to remove an obstacle?”. You can break out the first step into an action or set yourself a target of working on something for a chunk of time like 1 day or 3 hours.

3. COMMITMENT: Make your action doable, ie. the right size so that you can commit to it 100%.
NOTE: Commitment is important – although it doesn’t necessarily mean the goal or action will get done. Sometimes life gets in the way and opportunities or problems arise which prevent us from achieving what we set out to do. However, people CAN commit to achieving it.

4. SCORING: One way to check-in as to how Realistic your goal is, is to score how likely you feel you will achieve your goals (out of 10). If your score is LESS THAN 8:

o Your goal or action may be TOO challenging or large.
o You may not feel connected enough to WHY you’re doing it.
o You may lack self-belief (which is an obstacle in itself)
o There may be some other obstacles you haven’t fully acknowledged or addressed yet.

Create a RANGE of Goal Achievement Levels

One way to make a goal realistic, is to create a RANGE of goal achievement levels. Having a goal completion RANGE is a great way to take the pressure off, while still inspiring yourself with a stretch goal.

• Minimum – This should be relatively EASY to achieve. Set a level that is EASILY achievable this year. After all, life sometimes does throw unexpected things our way – positive opportunities, charming distractions and painful experiences!

• Target – This is your IDEAL level. What would be a good level to aim for? What would be enough of a stretch to be interesting, but not so much of a stretch that you find yourself switching off or avoiding it?

• Extraordinary – This is your STRETCH level! What would be amazing, brilliant, wonderful? Put in a measure here where you would say, “Wow, that is fabulous!” NOTE: Be sure that your measure here is POSSIBLE, even if it is not PROBABLE.

SMART Goals are Timebound

WHY? SMART goals and actions are always Timebound ie. they have a date by when you plan to complete them. Without a date there’s less incentive to work toward our goals – what are we aiming at? We’re all so busy! How are we going to fit more activity into our lives? How do we know how to prioritise our activities unless we have a deadline to know this goal/action is important to us?

Also, an action plan to achieve a goal will be very different in terms of effort, solutions and help required if the deadline is a month from now, as compared to a deadline of one year from now. Setting a date allows people to work backwards and figure out an appropriate action plan.

A date also gives us the opportunity to visualise completion. It allows you to imagine that time in the future when you have completed it- and that helps you commit to the goal!

With annual goals we often have an automatic “deadline” of December 31. And sometimes a date is fixed or imposed on us, for example if we’re booked to deliver a workshop on a specific date. And sometimes we must choose a date, so we have something to aim at.

3 TIPS to Make Goals Timebound

1. Pick a date that inspires you, but that’s not so challenging that you feel overwhelmed.
2. Different dates may also represent the relative priority or urgency of different actions. Fore example, a goal or action with a completion date of March 31 is likely to be higher priority than a goal with a completion date of September 30.
3. For each goal, you can give yourself a RANGE of completion dates (Minimum, Target and Extraordinary) as detailed under the “Make it Realistic” above.

5 Final Tips to Be Smart about HOW We Set Our Goals

It’s not just about setting goals using the SMART criteria. We need to BE smart about our goals. Here are 5 final tips to help you and your clients both set – and achieve – your goals.

1. Work hard, but know when to rest. Forgive yourself – for what you don’t yet know, for your mistakes and what might get in the way.

2. Be kind to yourself! Know that we tend to over-estimate what’s achievable in a shorter time-frame, and under-estimate what we can achieve over a longer period.

3. Anytime the goal isn’t working for you, change the goal! The best goals flex when they need to.

4. Remember that SMART is for Actions too!

5. More important than hard work – determination and perseverance are essential qualities for achieving bigger goals! Keeping going when the going gets tough is what sets you apart from the crowd. These qualities also build self-confidence, resilience and make you proud of yourself!

Wrap-up

Goals can be fun and inspiring. What the SMART criteria do is help us clearly define our goals so they’re easier to get started. SMART also makes it easier to take action, stay motivated – and ultimately succeed!

I have always loved goal-setting – and SMART goal-setting in particular! So I hope this SMART Goal-Setting and Action Planning Guide helps you set smarter and more inspiring goals – and have more fun working towards them!

Finally, remember this:

GOALS are there to INSPIRE YOU, not to beat yourself up with! Now that’s SMART!

Do You Have Big Dreams For 2022?

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Are you tired of watching life pass you by without feeling like you have a purpose? Probably like most people you have a few things you’d like to accomplish in the New Year, a few dreams of the future. But are they big dreams?

You hear it all the time. Dream big. In theory, dreaming big sounds great — but it’s easier said than done. Without big dreams, you’ll never reach your full potential. The truth is we have to dream big to achieve our goals in life.

Do You Want Success In Your Life?

Dreaming big is the secret to building success in your life. But often, when you’re trying to achieve goals, you look for shortcuts. Perhaps you look for an expert or a genie in a bottle who can tell you:

“This is how you can get to your dreams. I promise it will work.”

Here’s the thing: This One-Universal Solution for everybody – it doesn’t exist. Every person is different, and every dream is different.

We all have dreams, but most times they’re not big enough to make a difference, it’s a common problem.

4 Reasons Why We Don’t Dream Big Enough

 

Most people have at least one big dream. However, the most significant percentage of us will keep it just a dream—a pie in the sky idea—by never even trying to make it happen. We may even ask ourselves what’s holding us back from even attempting to live the dream. If you want to take the risk, but have still been sitting on the fence, don’t beat yourself up. But do understand these four reasons why so many of us chose to play it safe rather than do something extraordinary. Awareness of how they affect you is the first step to overcoming them.

 

  1. We Don’t Make It Clear

We all have spells of daydreaming every once and a while, but how often do we turn those daydreams into reachable goals? One of the big reasons why we don’t have big enough dreams is that we let them slip away. We didn’t define them specifically and set them as clear priorities—instead, we just look at them as “must be nice if it all came true” kinda ideas and move on.

 

  1. We’re Underestimating Our Abilities

If it sounds like you could never lose weight, you’re underrating yourself. If it seems like you’ll never be able to run a company and achieve success in a business, you’re undervaluing yourself. These things have been done by people just like you, so why can’t you do them? The answer is you can! The belief that we aren’t good enough is one of the biggest reasons why people don’t take the chance to make their dreams come true.

 

  1. We Don’t Have the Skills

A dream may sound scary if you don’t have the skills necessary to do it, but why would you stop at that? You can learn anything you wish to, and you can get started today. Most big dreams don’t rely on formal education or years of study. But we often hold ourselves back because we don’t believe we have what it takes to learn the skills necessary to make our dreams a reality.

 

  1. We’re Afraid

We’re afraid of so many things. Failure, success, what others will think. Everyone who has ever gone after their big dream has been scared of something. There’s a part of our brain that’s job is to keep us safe, which means staying where we are. When we think about reaching for a big goal, it brings up all types of thoughts to make us stay safe and small, so we don’t get hurt. Understanding that everyone is afraid and that our brain is part of the reason we are can go a long way to getting up the courage to try anyway.

You Can Learn How To Dream Big…

…and turn those dreams into reality! It’s within your grasp.

With my special offer below you can easily and quickly acquire the knowledge about the secrets of dreaming big and achieving more… you can turn your life around and make everyone proud of you by making this Your Best Year Ever.

Check it out now: CLICK HERE

How To Make 2022 A Success For Yourself By Becoming A Calmer Person

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Let’s face it – this last year sucked big time! No sugar-coating it, so please excuse my ‘french’ 🙂

So as we are staring 2021 in the face we remember how stressed, annoyed, frustrated and anxious we may have been this year.

How can we change this so next year won’t become another write-off just as this year was?

Read on, I’ve got 5 great tips for you to make 2022 Your Best Year Ever!

5 Ways to Become a Calmer Person

We hear a lot about how to be calm and why calmness is essential. But why?! What does “calm” really do for someone? If you’re feeling like being calm gets in the way of your motivation and achievement-focused mentality, you’re not alone.

A lot of people associate calmness with nonchalance, but in reality, it’s what helps you have a clear mind so that you can achieve all of your dreams and goals. You’ve got to start somewhere, so here are five ways to become a calmer person:

 

  1. Go All In 

Just like when you learn a new language, in order to become calmer, you need to immerse yourself in the headspace fully. That means the mind, body, and soul. Whether you decide to download a meditation app or start going to yoga classes, the important thing is that you commit to it.

 

  1. Surround Yourself with Calm

Tapping into the immersion piece, another way to become calmer is to surround yourself with calming imagery. Maybe you’ll paint your walls a color that makes you happy and serene. Or perhaps you’ll add a fountain in your room for soothing background noise.

 

  1. Take a Break When You Need One

The hustle is great, but sometimes you need a break. Breaks are good for the mind, especially when you’re usually working hard! Let your mind go through its unconscious thoughts so that its conscious self can get back to work when you wake up.

 

  1. Let Conflict be Conflict 

Sometimes, we get into conflict, and we take all the blame. Or we hand the blame over to someone else. Either way, engaging in conflict and letting it consume you is not the way to attain calmness for your mind. The next time you find yourself getting wrapped up in conflict, take a step back, and ask yourself what good it is doing for you. If it’s not doing any good — and most of the time, it’s not—step away and let the conflict be conflict.

 

  1. Observe from Far Away

It’s one thing to choose not to engage in something, whether it be a conflict or a toxic relationship. It’s another thing to decide to observe from far away, detach and then let go. For some people, it takes years to nail down the art of observing and detaching. It doesn’t matter how long it takes you — go at your own pace, and you’ll see progress.

So there you have it. Makes a lot of sense doesn’t it. Make calmness one of your goals in this year’s New Year Resolution – and  if you need a bit of help with how to go about this, check out the course Your Best Year Ever.

 

 

7 Tips for Making Journaling Part of Your Daily Routine To Boost your Success In 2022

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Today I have a completely different article for you. The short story I am using as an intro into the subject you may have seen or heard before.

Usually it is told as an example of how clever marketing can boost your sales, or the that the power of words – correctly used – is vastly superior to a one-liner.

It is worthwhile noting that in the first instance how Nick Ortner, the CEO of The Tapping Solution, tells it here and takes it to a completely different angle.

So sit back, enjoy the fable, and then follow me on some ideas that will help you propel you into your Best Year Ever in 2021:

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet.

He held up a sign which read, “I am blind, please help.”

There were only a few coins in the hat – spare change from folks as they hurried past.

A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words.

Then he put the sign back in the boy’s hand so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy.

That afternoon, the man who had changed the sign returned to see how things were.

The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, “Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?”

The man said, “I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way.” I wrote, “Today is a beautiful day, but I cannot see it.”

Both signs spoke the truth. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind, while the second sign conveyed to everyone walking by how grateful they should be to see…

When your life seems full of troubles, it seems difficult to maintain an attitude of gratitude, doesn’t it? All we see are our problems, like a blackened storm cloud casting a dark shadow over our lives.

And the times when everything just seems to be going smoothly? We often take these precious moments for granted too, don’t we? Caught up in the bliss, comfort, and familiarity of it all, we can simply forget to be thankful.

So what, then, is gratitude?

Simply put, gratitude is a habit. It’s a way of looking at the world and all the good things in it with a feeling of appreciation, regardless of whether or not your current situation is to your liking.

Gratitude is a heart-centered approach to being at peace with yourself and with all you have. When you practice this feeling of gratitude, it attracts even MORE things into your life for which to be grateful.

Go ahead, try it out right now. What or who do you have in your life to be thankful for?

Lovely story, and a great perspective of what Nick did with it.

So how does Gratitude fit into creating Your Best Year Ever this year?

Well, it may come as a surprise to you, but it has been scientifically proven that people who regularly practice Gratitude are more successful in all areas of their life, because they are more centered, more at peace and more focused in everything they do.

Especially when it comes to Goal Setting, New Year Resolutions and creating Success Habits for 2021 you want to be in the best mental state you can be to put these into action.

Coming from a place of Gratitude of where you are at and what you already have to start with is a perfect strategy to create powerful goals, and set about achieving them for 2021.

This is a completely different attitude from what most people are doing – coming from a place of scarcity. “I’m missing this, I’m missing that, this is not working, that is bad in my life…I don’t have enough money/love/success…and I want to change it!”

Coming from a place of Gratitude is, however, is a completely different, a better, more powerful approach.

You’re not beating yourself up, and in the process just reinforcing all the bad stuff you were thinking about, you concentrate on what’s good in your life – and you create a plan to improve upon it.

If you need a bit of help with that, please check out the course ‘BEST YEAR EVER’

So how do you incorporate more Gratitude into your life and make it a daily habit in 2021?

One of the easiest and most powerful strategies you can apply to have more Gratitude in your life is Journaling. If you’ve never done t or heard of it – please read on:

The way to ensure that journaling works for you in 2021 and beyond is to do it regularly. Regular journaling gives you more insight into your life because you’ll be able to look to the past, present, and even the future (sort of) to get answers in your life. But first, you have to do it. And you need to do it daily to make it a habit. Let’s review a few tips for making journaling part of your daily routine.

1           Make It Easy – Don’t make it a huge deal, and it’ll be simpler to get done. For example, it’s easier to use a notebook and paper than a computer for most people. It has also been proven to be more effective and powerful in the same way that science tells us that physically writing down our goals is a 100 times more powerful than typing them up on a laptop or putting them into a phone App. The mere act of writing – the hand-brain connection – hammers it into our subconscious mind and forges it into a powerful goal that every part of your body strives to fulfil. In the same way the physical act of filling in your Gratitude Journal triggers all the right neurons in your brain to fire up to create results for you going forward. You can have your Journal-Book in your briefcase, bag or on your bedside table or wherever you plan to write in it.

 

2           Choose a Time That Works – The best times to do it are either early morning, first thing, or the last thing you do before you go to bed. However, I realize that might not work for everyone. If you know a better time, do it. For example, perhaps you like journaling while on lunch at work or while you’re having a break in the park. It’s up to you.

 

3           Get a Drink and Eat a healthy Snack – You don’t want to have any excuses or extraneous thoughts while you’re writing in your journal. Make sure you’re fed and hydrated.

 

4           Create a Comfortable and Assessable Space – It’s easier to get into your thoughts if you’re comfortable and not thinking about how bad your tailbone, neck or your wrist hurts. Maybe you like using a desk, or a comfy easy chair, or perhaps you like writing in your Gratitude Journal in bed.

 

5           Combine It with Something Else You Enjoy Doing – If you enjoy listening to music and using it to relax, then why not journal at the same time? If it’s a daily thing, add journaling to it, and it’ll create a habit fast. Now it’s true that some people prefer silence, so that’s fine if you do. But consider trying some music that doesn’t have words and that is relaxing, to help you gather your thoughts and say calm and focused.

 

6           Use a Particular Type of Journal – For some people, using a style of journaling like bullet journaling, prayer journaling, project journaling, and more, works better since it defines some rules for entry.

 

7           Reward Yourself – When you have been diligent for a month writing in your journal, take some time to read what you wrote, then reward yourself for doing it. You could buy some colored pens or some scrapbooking materials so you can add some definition and interest to your journal.

 

Let me share one more thing here on a very personal note – I strongly recommend you go out and buy a really nice, special Journal for yourself. That is what I have done, and I really enjoy my classy, leather-bound, heavy-paper Gratitude Journal. Yeah sure – It cost a little bit more than a standard school notebook, but it is special, personal, important to me.

I put all my inner-most thoughts and ideas into it – it just wouldn’t feel right using some dog-eared old notebook for that. This is “Me-time”, so I make sure I look forward to picking it up, feeling it’s weight, admiring it’s leather a bit. It’s part of a daily ritual that is very personal and important to me, so I don’t want it to be another throw-away item I bought at the Dollar-Store.

By the way – while you’re at it, invest in a really nice pen, something that feels good in your hand, something you are going to enjoy writing with. And – naturally – you’ll only use it for your Gratitude Journal. It’s special, its’ exclusive…you know what I’m getting at!

To truly experience the full benefits of journaling, you need to do it most days, which is why you need to find a way to incorporate journaling into your everyday life. The best way to accomplish this is to make it easy and turn it into a habit as I have shown you in the 7 steps.

Now get going and soon you will see how Gratitude Journalling helps you to transform 2021 into your Best Year Ever!

Woman writing in her Gratitude Journal

7 Tips For SMART Goal Setting for 2022

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  1. Why You Need To Set SMART Goals (what does SMART stand for)
  2. How To Make Your Goals Specific
  3. How Are You Going To Measure Progress
  4. Why Reaching For The Stars May Be A Bad Idea (attainable)
  5. What’s Your Why? (Relevant)
  6. Did You Set Yourself A Deadline? (Time Bound)
  7. The Power Of Writing Your SMART Goals Down And Reviewing Them Regularly

Why You Need To Set SMART Goals for 2021

We can define goals as objects of a person’s ambition or an aim at a desired result. Most of us have some goals set out for ourselves to improve our lives. We can relate your goals to personal or professional progress.

Either way, without goals, there’s not much room for advancement and without the challenge of reaching a goal you’ve set for yourself, life would be stagnant.  But the process in which we set goals for ourselves matters. Although, you are responsible for whether you follow through with the goals you’ve set for yourself, how you set them has a hand in determining how successful you’ll be in achieving them.

The term SMART Goals refers to a process in which you set your goals that will give you greater success. SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time Bound. The SMART goals method will help you with your organization, focus, and clarity with your goals. Research has shown that using the SMART goals method can save you time and simplify reaching your goals. SMART goals are easy to implement and can be used by anyone with the desire to improve their life by setting and achieving goals.

The SMART Goals method of goal setting works because it lays each step out for you. The S stands for specific, meaning the goal needs to be clear and specific. When setting a goal for yourself, you must steer away from generalized statements. The more precise the goal is the better.

M is for measurable. Measurable goals refer to tracking your progress. Your goal will be easier met if you can assess progress along the way, giving you more motivation and focus toward your ultimate ambition. Next, A. The A is for attainable. Although your goals should help stretch you outside of your comfort zone and push you to the next level, it’s important that the goals you set remain achievable. R, relevant goals are imperative to your success. This means that the goals you set should be important to you and aligns well with your life and other goals you have set. Finally, T, for time bound. Your goals should have a deadline to achieve them. This will help keep you on track and focused, and give you opportunities to celebrate your small wins along the way. By implementing the SMART Goals system, you will gain the ability to achieve your goals, faster and with a higher success rate.

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How To Make Your Goals Specific To Make This Your Best Year Ever

Specificity is crucial as it relates to mapping out the goals you set for yourself. Overly generalized goals will produce a lack of direction and ability to focus on what’s important. Goals that are too vague will end up setting you up for failure. For example, let’s say you want to drink more water per day. “I will drink more water every day,” is far too general. Lack of specificity will enable you to make excuses. The wording doesn’t hold you accountable; it is not enough of a detailed plan to follow through with. Instead, clarify the specifics. Answering some questions about your goal will pinpoint your intention and narrow down the specifics. You must answer what’s known as the “5 W’s” of basic information gathering; Who? What? When? Where? Why? Answering these five questions will help you develop specific clarity and motivation towards your goal. Answer these five questions to draft your goal:

Who will this goal involve?

What exactly do I want to accomplish?

When do I want to accomplish this goal?

Where will you achieve this goal?

Why is this goal important to me?

After filling in the blanks to the five information gathering questions, your goal will  look something like this: “I will drink 8 glasses of water every day – 2 glasses of water in the morning before breakfast, two glasses with lunch, two glasses after the gym and two glasses before bed to become healthier. This goal is specific and direct. It explicitly states what your expectations are for yourself and enables accountability.

Another example of a goal without detail and focus is “I will exercise more.” This goal is positive and relevant, however, it lacks specificity, and therefore it becomes a setup for failure. Answering the 5 w’s will provide the specifics you need to set meaningful, constructive goals that will give a higher rate of success in achievement. After answering these questions, you will end up drafting a goal that sounds more like this, “I will exercise at the gym for 45 minutes, every weekday morning, before I go to work.” This statement is a detailed plan for what, where, how and when you intend to follow through with your plan. Its details will ensure a higher goal success rate than that of the first, vaguer statement.

S stands for specific, in the acronym, SMART goals. Drafting specific goals is the first step in coming up with goals that stick and are successful.

How Are You Going To Measure Progress To Make This Year Awesome

Measuring your progress for the goals you’ve set is the second part of the SMART Goals method. After all, you won’t know if you’re making progress or gaining on your goal without a way to measure it. When progress is measurable, you can track how far you’ve come, keep focused and stay motivated by celebrating the small milestones you complete along the way. In order to facilitate assessing your progress, you’ll need a set of criteria for measurement of progress.

Similar to the Specific step used in SMART Goals, you will need to answer a few questions regarding your goal as a criterion for measuring progress data:

How many?

How much?

What is the indicator of progress?

How many or how much refers to progress as an indicator of what success for your specific goal looks like. The indicator of progress signifies the way in which you decide to track the progress you have made. This varies significantly depending on the goal. If it’s a business goal, maybe the indicator of progress is gross sales. Or it might be the number of pounds lost per week, if your goal is to get to a healthier weight. Tracking how far you’ve come within the goal is important because it will keep you focused on your ultimate goal. Motivation will be gained by ability to celebrate the milestones of the progress you have along the way.

Using the same goal as above, to lose 10 pounds by exercising more. More specifically stated, “I will go to the gym to work out for 45 minutes every day weekday morning before work, in order to lose 2 pounds per week.” Now not only is the goal specific and clearly stated, we have added the quantity of measurement for the goal, 2 pounds per week. In this case the indicator of measurement would be the scale. In the arena of business, an example might be, if the goal is, “I will build brand awareness through social media, to increase gross profits by 20% per month.” The quantity of measurement and the indicator is the profit increase in comparison to previous months.

Putting the SMART Goals method to use has proven to produce a higher success rate for goal achievement. Measuring your goals is an important part of this process. When you track your progress, you will have the ability to stay more motivated towards your goal and keep a stronger focus.

Why Reaching For The Stars May Be A Bad Idea

The A, in SMART Goals, represents attainable. When setting goals, be sure to choose a goal that is attainable – your goals should be within reasonable reach for you. Although the goals you set should stretch you out of your comfort zone and excite you, your goals should remain within reach.  If a goal is impossible to achieve your efforts are futile. It becomes unproductive to put your time and energy toward a goal that will never come to fruition. You will end up losing motivation and feel like giving up if you aren’t able to succeed or celebrate your milestones along the way. Instead, be sure to set a goal that you can accomplish, this way you will keep focus and motivation, and have a chance of greater success. Along with your goal being unattainable, be sure that when you draft your goal, it’s written in a way that allows you responsibility for your goal. You should state your goals in a way that gives you control over the outcome. No one other than you should be the subject of your goal.

You should state attainable goals with success in mind. For example, let’s say you feel that you would benefit professionally from reading more books that pertain to your business. So, your goal might be, “I will read a business related book every night before bed for 20 minutes, with my goal to be to read one business book per month, for 6 months.” This goal is attainable because what you’re asking of yourself is reasonable and achievable. The goal also only involves one person, you, who follows through to ensure success.

Another way to assist attainable goals in being successful is through setting milestone goals. Milestone goals are small goals that you can set along the pathway to your goal. For example, in the instance above, a milestone goal could be to check in with yourself once a week. Checking in on your own accountability is a great way to stay on track. If you have followed through with your goal for the week, in this case, read your business book for 20 minutes every evening, you will know you are making progress toward your goal. As we already know, tracking or measuring your progress helps secure a greater success rate for your goal. Keep your goals challenging yet attainable and you will be on your way to being successful with your goals.

What’s Your Why For 2021?

In goal setting, “your why,” refers to the relevance that the particular goal has in your life. Relevance is the R, in the SMART Goals method of goal setting. This part of setting a goal for yourself is crucial because it’s about ensuring that the goal is important to you. There’s little point in putting time and effort into a goal that truly doesn’t matter to you. Goals should drive us forward towards something significant. Relevance of the goal you are setting should also align well with your other life plans. Decide the relevance of a goal by answering a few questions pertaining to the goal and your current life. Questions like:

Does this goal seem worthwhile? Is the trade-off of time and effort worth the result?

Does it align well with my other efforts and goals? Are other aspects of your life driving forward in the same direction?

Is this the right time for this goal? Does this goal fit in with your personal goals? Does it make sense financially?

Am I the right person for this goal? Is this goal attainable? Do I have the skills and ability for success in the goal?

Coming up with answers to these questions will help you determine the goal’s relevance in your life. Some of these questions are not necessarily straightforward, black and white. You will need to dig deep to answer some of these questions to find the real “why” of your desired goal, to know if it’s relevant enough to move forward.

An example of a goal relevant to one’s life might be for someone whose goal is to be promoted in their field, to take available online courses, to gain knowledge and experience of their desired position. This plan is worthwhile because it provides professional experience. They offer the courses online, so you can take them at a time convenient for the subject. Online courses are affordable, so most likely they will make financial sense. The online courses will ultimately propel the subject forward, toward an even bigger goal, the eventual promotion.

Relevance of a goal is an important part of goal setting. Deciding if a goal is relevant helps you match your goals to the rest of your life, helps you know if the goal matters to you, and if the time is the right time to achieve the goal. Sometimes, one must truly examine themselves and their life to determine relevance of a desired goal.

Did You Set Yourself A Deadline To Make This Your Best Year Ever?

Deadlines are important motivators in goal setting, that’s why the T, in SMART Goals, refers to the term time bound. Time bound means the time you allocate for you to complete your goal. An obvious start and end date for your goals are a momentous piece of your goal-setting plan. When you set start and end times for yourself, you are better able to stay on track, give you the ability to focus on your goal and give you something to work toward. Mini-deadlines will help you keep up motivation because you will celebrate your smaller successes along the way. Deadlines will also help with time management, making your goal more easily accomplished. Managing your time well will help you allocate your time where needed, toward achieving your goal. Parkinson’s Law states that work will expand to fill the time allotted. So, unless you must carefully distribute your time, your goals may fall to the wayside and become overtaken by everyday tasks.

Time-bound goals have start and end dates. Setting a time frame for yourself in whom you expect to complete your goal, will give you a sense of urgency. Time bound goals also keep you focused on the task you have laid out for yourself by helping prioritize your everyday tasks. It’s easy to get caught up in the things we have to get done in life, work and family obligations often take over. Parkinson’s Law states that work will expand to fill the time allotted; meaning that other tasks will take over, if you let them. But, when the goal is time bound, it helps keep the goal in the forefront, with a sense of necessity.

Mini-deadlines are another way that time-bound goals help ensure success. You can set yourself some smaller deadlines within your primary goal and reward yourself for those mini successes along the way. For example, let’s say your goal is to walk for 30 minutes, 5 times a week for 3 months, in the evening when you get home from work, to get healthier. The deadline here is 3 months. An example of a useful mini goal could be at the 1 week mark. If you check in with yourself every Friday evening and you have followed through with walking for 30 minutes every evening after work for that week, you have successfully completed your mini goal. If you allow yourself a small reward for achieving the mini goal, you will further solidify success.

Time sensitive goals are an important part of the SMART Goals method. Setting deadlines will increase your productivity and help ensure your success.

 

 

 

 

 

Achieve Your New Year’s Resolutions – 10 steps to guarantee the perfect goals

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For this year’s New Years Resolutions, give yourself an unfair advantage to make your Goals and New Years Resolutions stick and work for you… I recommend you grab yourself a copy of “Your Best Year Ever“ and make 2022 truly YOUR best year ever!

Have you already made resolutions for the New Year?

If not – then it’s high time!

You know that no New Year’s Eve party can avoid the topic! While drinks were being poured diligently, it’s time to start: “And what are your plans for the New Year?”

Interestingly, hardly anyone asks: “So what did you plan to do last year? And what came out of it? ”

 The truth about New Year’s Resolutions

According to a recent study, 80–92% of all New Year’s resolutions are quickly forgotten* when everyday soberness returns after the alcohol frenzy and the euphoria of the New Year celebrations.

No wonder, as bad as we are in setting reasonable goals for the new year! Because they usually sound like this:

     
“I want to loose weight.”     
“I want to smoke less.”     
“I don’t want to eat so unhealthy anymore.”     
“I want to do more sports.”     
“I want to start a blog.”    
 “I want to meet more people.”

Some even have several of these resolutions at once. It almost reads like a bizarre personal ad: “Excessive smoker, meat eater and sports hater with 20 kilogram excess weight would like to turn their life upside down in one fell swoop (without a specific goal, system or support)”

Maybe you recognized yourself a little bit? Most people formulate their resolutions like this and try to implement them, but they are doomed to fail. This creates a lot of frustration, low self-confidence and the loss of the will to work on yourself. What a pity!
 
 10 reasons why most New Year’s Resolutions fail

What goes wrong with most resolutions? The name “resolutions” alone leads in the wrong direction. In the end, these are goals. And from everyday work, most of us know that goals should not be wishful thinking, but concrete plans.

Nevertheless, in private we like to focus on a little less professionalism and concrete action – maybe also so that you have a back door from the start, if it does not work so well with losing weight. Here are the top 10 mistakes in writing our goals and wishes for the New Year:

Unspecific and unmeasurable goals
Too many or too ambitious goals at once     
Goals without a teeth – “I would like” and “I want” instead of “I will” and “I have to”     
Goals without meaning and vision
Negative goals
Goals only in your own mind and without a control mechanism
Goals beyond your control
Goals without plans B and C.
Goals without measures and habits     
Goals without support and responsibility

How to set goals for the New Year correctly

Are you ready for success? Then first of all let’s switch from talking about New Year’s resolutions and call it “New Year’s Goals”. It is immediately clear that we are serious and satisfied with nothing less than the successful implementation.  Follow my principles and prepare your most successful year so far!

 1. Set specific and measurable goals

I spare you here with the controversial “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it” dogma. But just because you can’t measure everything in the world doesn’t mean that concrete and measurable goals are no better than vague ones. “I want to eat healthier” is just so vague that you never know whether you are closer to your goal or not. “I want to do more sport” can be fulfilled if you previously did no sport and now take the stairs instead of the elevator.

Specific and measurable goals help you in the definition phase to think about exactly what you want to achieve or what you have to and want to do for it. Examples of specific, measurable goals are:


* “I will walk, walk or run 30 minutes 3 times a week”
* “I will eat meat at most 5 times a week.”
* “I will only eat salad, soup or vegetables at lunchtime eat. ”
* “ I will give at least one word in each meeting. ”
* “ I will go to networking events at least twice a month. ”

Do you see the difference? Here it becomes very concrete what needs to be done to achieve the goal. And that is the first step to success.

 2. Set a few important goals

 


Would you like to change your whole life? Great! But I recommend you start with one thing! We all shy away from change! It is difficult and often has to be worked hard and for a long time before new patterns and habits develop. If you try to change too much at the same time, you often fail because of yourself and your ambitions. Therefore, set only a few but important goals. Goals often need new habits to be achieved. However, it is extremely difficult to introduce several changes at the same time in patterns that have been used for years.

 

In addition, new habits need at least three to four weeks before they have really settled in. So choose a goal that you want to start with and that is particularly important for you, for example losing weight. If you have created the habit necessary to reach the goal, you can move on to the next one. This is how you create experiences of success, which in turn boost motivation for new goals.

 3. Set realistic goals and intermediate goals

A New Year, a new beginning – time for ambitious goals! Or? Ambitious goals often motivate us briefly, but can quickly become overwhelming. If the pounds do not tumble as quickly as expected or the legs are heavy after a few minutes, we ask ourselves “How on earth can I lose 10 kilos?” Or “How the hell will I ever run a marathon?”. Some manage to struggle through these difficult phases, but others fall by the wayside here. If big goals overwhelm you, set yourself smaller goals or partial goals, but at a shorter distance. “I want to complete a 10-kilometer run in three months” is better than “I want to run a marathon in twelve months.” But after the 10-kilometer run, you can easily target the half-marathon distance for the next three months. Small goals are more manageable – that’s why we approach them with more confidence and are more convinced of success – an important prerequisite for success!
 
 4. Find your WHY and smash your goals!

Would you like to win the lottery? Me too! But unfortunately I never play because, no matter how I twist and turn it, it is impossible to say with certainty that I will win the lottery. Who dreams of winning the lottery or wants Christmas presents, says “I wish” and “I would like”. Those who want to achieve goals say “I will” and “I have to”. Only the things that we have to do are really done. So find reasons why you must and will achieve your goals. When searching for a strong “WHY”, two basic driving forces help you: pain and joy.

For example, if you want to lose weight, try to imagine the pain and suffering you will have if you do not lose weight soon. For example, you could imagine how your health is going downhill, how you are being laughed at or pitied by others, or how your partner is turning away from you. It is also best to imagine the positive consequences if you are successful: just think of your newly gained self-confidence, your fitness, and the attraction that you exude. When you visualize in pain and joy dimensions you find a strong WHY for your goals, and suddenly you no longer want to be successful, you have to and you will!
 
 5. Set yourself positive goals

Please don’t think of a pink elephant! Stop, stop thinking about the pink elephant right now! Perhaps you already know our brain’s habit of skillfully ignoring negations. This works not only with pink elephants, but actually with everything else that we focus on. On a fateful day in 1973, an (admittedly drunk) Libyan truck driver did what many would have thought impossible: in the Saharan desert, he rammed the only (and also sacred) tree within a radius of hundreds of kilometers. If we do not assume that he did this on purpose, then there is only one logical explanation: when he saw the tree, he could only remember that he must not ram this obstacle under any circumstances! So set yourself positive goals, otherwise you risk doing the opposite. So, “eat healthy” instead of “stop eating unhealthy food”, “stay friendly” instead of “stop being so negative all the time” and “go out regularly” instead of “not always hanging around at home.”

6. Set goals that you can control yourself

What is the difference between these two goals:
1. I want to run a half marathon in under two hours, and
2. I want to be among the top 500 in the New York half marathon?

Okay, here is another pair of goals:
1. I want to go to at least one networking event each week and meet at least one new person each
2. I want to find a new job

Is the difference clear? The first goal is within your control, the second is not. Why is that important? Quite simply: if you make your satisfaction dependent on the achievement of your goal, then you should also set goals that you can achieve independently. Otherwise, you make your well-being dependent on the actions of others, and this can only cause problems in the long term, because you can influence others but not control them. So if I want to lose weight to please my partner more, I can set myself the goal of doing sports three times a week and losing five kilos, and I can do that myself. However, I cannot force my partner’s favor. So set yourself goals that are clear about what you can and must do to achieve the goal. In this way you can be satisfied with yourself if you meet your target, even if the “final goal” does not materialize and thus create the best conditions for pursuing your goals ambitiously in the future.

  7. Anticipate setbacks and develop counter strategies

 Have you ever pursued a goal and suffered a setback? Maybe you decided to go to the gym every week and then you just couldn’t make it. Or you went on a diet and eventually picked up sweets. The big question is: how did you deal with it? Did you say “Now it doesn’t matter” and gave up completely straight away? Or did you say “Now more than ever”, “One time is not the end” or “I will continue anyway”? Setbacks are inevitable. It is important how we deal with them. So think about how to deal with potential setbacks or problems beforehand. What if you have to take a break, get sick, go on vacation, get weak, have to take care of children, miss a workout, forget your goal, and so on? Develop a battle plan directly if problems arise and one for further action in case you get off track. For example: * “With my diet, I am prone to sweets. So at the beginning I throw away all the sweets. If I get weak, I exercise more to compensate. In addition, I definitely continue because I really want to lose five kilos. Tripping up once is not the end! ”

 8. Plan your necessary measures and habits

A goal is only as good as the measures and habits that support it. If you want to lose weight, you need measures and habits, such as eating and exercises plans, and the habits to implement them. If you want to be promoted, you have to work effectively, market yourself in the company and convince your boss – this can be done, for example, through the habit of planning your day effectively and actively talking about your projects. So not only set a goal, but also combine it with the measures that you can control yourself.

These measures must become a habit, because only those who do something regularly can achieve their goals. One-off lucky-successes are rarely sustainable and strong enough to really make a difference. Or to put it another way: you don’t get lean and healthy from exercising once.

Habits consist of
(1) a trigger that actions the habit,
(2) the habit itself, and
(3) a reward.


Different triggers could look like this:

     
Put your sportswear in front of your bed in the evening
Meditate when the coffee maker is running
Chew gum when you start smoking again
Set your cellphone alarm clock to the times when you want to take screen breaks
And then do the habit!
Over time, it works better and your habit will continue to solidify. As a reward, of course, many individual things come into question. But it works best if you manage to make feeling good a reward according to your habit. This may sound a bit esoteric, but it has the advantage that you are not tied to a physical reward and can cultivate this “conscious, good feeling” for many other aspects of your life. So when you have your good new habit, stop and get in touch with yourself. Enjoy the good feeling, the pride, the satisfaction with yourself.
  
 9. Get support and accountability partners

 What is the difference between a jog that you have planned and one that you have agreed to do? The former will be dropped in case of doubt, the latter almost never. How so? Because we are committed to doing something with someone else and we don’t want to disappoint that person. We humans also have a strong need to act consistently. So when we make a promise, our inner being urges us to keep it just to be congruent with our own statement. Take advantage of this in two ways:  

   
Tell others about your goal. Or write it on Facebook for everyone to see. Simply telling or posting increases the likelihood that you would otherwise be inconsistent with everyone else.     
Find a partner for your goal. Exercising together, dieting, quitting smoking, writing blog articles, etc. is easier together than doing it alone.

 10. Write down your goals and check them regularly

 Do you remember what you set out to do last year? Probably not, because you probably never wrote it down and rarely thought about the goal after that boozy New Year’s Eve. The last step is therefore to write down the goal or goals with all its concrete, measurable, positive action steps.
    
Here again to check: The goals are …


specific and measurable
important and few
realistic and possibly broken down to sub-goals
provided with a strong “why” – and * positive
directly controllable by you
Plan B for setbacks
supported by measures and habits
shared with others

When you write them down, you may notice what is still missing, what feels uncomfortable, and where you can still make improvements. Next, determine a ritual to review your goal and actions.

It is usually a good idea to check weekly how much you have adhered to your own guidelines and have come closer to your goal. So set a weekly appointment on the calendar where you will check your goals. It makes sense to do this on weekends or Mondays in the morning so that you can plan the next steps for the new week. If you check your goals weekly, you don’t run the risk of losing sight of them!

 If you take all of this into account, you have greatly reduced the chance of losing sight of your New Year’s goals!

To your successful New Year 2022!

If you want  a shortcut to make your Goals and New Years Resolutions stick  and work  for you… I recommend you grab yourself a copy of “Your Best Year Ever“ and make 2022 truly YOUR best year ever!

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Achieve Your Goals to Pursue Your New Year Resolutions

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Goal pursuit is the procedure through which one formulates “wishes and needs” and strives toward some outcome where these wishes and needs are achieved.

This Blog-poste overviews literature on motivation and persistence to complete an objective once goal activities have started (i.e. the actional phase), with specific applications of New Years Resolutions.

Goal progress is really a way of measuring advancement toward accomplishment of the goal. Perceptions of progress frequently impact human motivation to pursue an objective. Shell (1932, 1934) developed the aim gradient hypothesis, which posits that motivation to complete an objective increases monotonically in the goal initiation condition towards the goal ending condition. Shell developed the aim gradient hypothesis when observing rats racing to get a food reward (Shell, 1932). Using sensors to evaluate the rat’s motion, Shell observed the rats degree of effort elevated because the proximal distance towards the food reward decreased. The aim gradient hypothesis has been utilized to calculate human behavior when going after an objective.

Using the goal gradient hypothesis to analysis of consumer rewards or loyalty programs, marketing researchers developed the endowed progress effect and illusionary progress effect. First, Nunes and Dreze (2006) developed the endowed progress effect, which posits that endowing someone with a few way of measuring artificial progress toward confirmed goal can subsequently boost the consumer’s motivation to accomplish the aim, resulting in faster and greater amounts of goal attainment when compared with consumers who’ve not received an endowment. As put on rewards or loyalty programs, consumers with endowed progress were proven to possess a greater probability of reward redemption when compared with individuals not endowed, plus they completed the reward task more rapidly compared to non-endowed.

To show this effect, along with an expert vehicle wash, Nunes and Dreze (2006) conducted an area experiment where they distributed 300 loyalty cards to vehicle wash patrons. For every vehicle wash purchased, cardholders received a stamp on their own cards. 1 / 2 of them needed ten stamps to get the reward (a totally free vehicle wash), however these cards were endowed with two stamps – therefore, these patrons only needed eight additional stamps to get a totally free vehicle wash. Another 1 / 2 of them were non-endowed, and patrons only needed eight stamps to get a totally free vehicle wash. The authors discovered that the typical time between vehicle washes (i.e. interpurchase time) for patrons using the endowed cards was under the interpurchase here we are at patrons using the non-endowed cards. Furthermore, the redemption rate for endowed cards (i.e. individuals cards completed and posted to get a totally free vehicle wash) was statistically greater compared to redemption rate of non-endowed cards at 34% when compared with 19%, correspondingly.

Second, Kivetz, Urminsky, and Zheng (2006) were built with a similar finding: the illusionary progress effect. They found evidence that supplying a fantasy of goal progress accelerates the speed of goal achievement (i.e. reduced intervisit occasions for any rewards program) and increases retention within the rewards program. They developed the aim-distance model that asserts that “investment” in goal pursuit is inversely proportional towards the mental distance between needs received in search of the reward and also the final amount of needs needed to offer the reward.

Bonezzi et al. (2011) propose a reason gradient for goal pursuit that’s determined by perceptions of goal progress from the reference: either the first condition or even the finish condition from the goal. This suggested psychophysics type of goal pursuit purports that (1) once the initial condition of the goal may be the reference, motivation levels monotonically decrease as distance in the initial condition increases and (2) once the finish condition of the goal may be the reference, motivation levels monotonically increase as distance towards the finish condition decreases. When proposing the U-formed goal gradient, Bonezzi et al. (2011) reason that the perceived marginal worth of progress when going after an objective is finest in the goal initial condition and also the goal finish condition. This belief of marginal value drives motivation hence, motivation is greatest in the initial and finish condition from the goal.

The psychophysics model incorporates framing effects – asserting that the way an objective is presented impacts perceptions of progress during goal pursuit. Perceptions of progress subsequently impact the amount of effort exerted during various steps during goal pursuit. Progress measured from the goal’s initial condition is called a “to-date” frame and progress measured from the goal’s finish condition is called a “to-go” frame (Bonezzi et al., 2011). Within an experiment run with undergraduate student participants, Bonezzi et al. (2011) gave participants $15 to give to some charitable organization having a objective of $300 total donations. Participants were put in two groups: a to-date group along with a to-go group. Within the to-date condition, money the charitable organization had collected toward its goal was presented as money already collected. Within the to-go condition, progress in reaching the $300 goal was presented as money left to gather to achieve the aim. In conjuction with the psychophysics model, Bonezzi et al. (2011) discovered that the speed of donations by participants within the to-date group was greatest noisy . stages from the goal and also the rate of donation by participants within the to-go group was greatest throughout the late stages from the goal.

Higgins’ theory of regulatory fit (see Regulatory focus theory) asserts that folks whose regulatory focus (whether prevention or promotion orientation) aligns using their method of goal pursuit demonstrates greater amounts of motivation to accomplish the aim when compared with individuals whose method of goal pursuit is incongruent using their regulatory focus (Spiegel, Grand-Pillow, & Higgins, 2004). Consequently, the previous individuals, with aligned focus and approach, are more inclined to accomplish the aim. For example, inside a study run with undergraduate students at Columbia College, Spiegel et al. (2004) evaluated the regulatory focus, either promotion or prevention, of study participants. Participants were requested to accomplish a study writing task, and participants were requested either to complete the job utilizing a vigilance perspective or perhaps an eagerness perspective. Eagerness is connected having a promotion focus (i.e. advancement toward an objective) and vigilance is connected having a prevention focus (i.e. securing an objective). Spiegel et al. discovered that study participants whose tasks were in line with their regulatory focus (i.e. promotion/eagerness and prevention/vigilance) were more prone to complete the job when compared with individuals whose regulatory focus wasn’t in conjuction with the task’s framing.

Fishbach & Dhar (2005) discovered that a self-regulatory concentrate on commitment during goal pursuit results in actions in line with goal achievement when goal progress is perceived whereas a self-regulatory concentrate on progress during goal pursuit can lead to actions incongruent with goal achievement. Fishbach, Eyal, and Finkelstein (2010) extended this idea to calculate behavior during goal pursuit when good and bad feedback are received. They claim that people who are commitment focused are anticipated to pursue goal-congruent actions when receiving positive feedback, because this feedback can serve as proof of their dedication to the aim whereas progress-focused individuals see exactly the same positive feedback as proof of sufficient progress toward goal attainment and could subsequently pursue actions incongruent with goal achievement. However, commitment-focused individuals would see negative feedback as proof of the absence of dedication to the aim and would subsequently pursue actions incongruent with goal achievement whereas the progress-focused individuals see negative feedback being an symbol of the absence of goal progress and would subsequently pursue goal-congruent actions.

Fishback et al. (2010) supply the following example,

“…a student who gets to be a high test score and infers that they likes math works harder consequently, whereas a classmate who receives similar positive feedback and infers sufficient progress will relax his efforts and concentrate on getting together with [his] buddies.”

Heath, Larrick, and Wu (1999) assert that motivation to pursue an objective could be described while using concepts of Prospect theory – particularly, individuals connected using the S-formed value function. This values method of motivation emphasizes the next characteristics:

Heath et al. (1999) describe goals as reference points. Particularly, the aim can serve as the reference through which individuals psychologically differentiate between successes and failures. Using Prospect Theory terminology, successes are connected with gains and failures are connected with losses. For instance, if your goal is placed to get rid of ten pounds, losing 11 pounds is really a success but losing 9 pounds is really a failure.

Heath et al. (1999) condition that much like decisions under uncertainty, loss aversion pertains to goals. With goals, loss aversion signifies that the negative affect evoked from performing worse than a person’s goal outweighs the positive affect connected with exceeding a person’s goal. For instance, consider one has an objective of losing ten pounds. If he misses his goal by losing only nine pounds, the magnitude of his negative feelings could be more than the magnitude of his positive feelings if he exceeds his goal by losing 11 pounds.

Heath et al. (1999) assert that individuals’ sensitivity to advance in goal pursuit diminishes because they escape from the aim reference. Therefore, as a person moves closer toward accomplishing her goal, the perceived worth of progress increases. For instance, think about a goal to operate 10 miles along with a separate goal to operate 20 miles. If someone runs one mile, the perceived worth of this progress is larger once the goal reference is 10 miles than once the reference is 20 miles.

Utilizing a values method of goal pursuit, Heath et al. (1999) assert that proximal goals are more inclined to lead to effective outcomes. Whenever a goal is proximal, value for every step of progress is more than when the goal is distal given diminishing sensitivity. One method to transform a distal goal to some more proximal goal would be to set subgoals. Therefore, Heath et al. (1999) assert that setting subgoals is an efficient technique to motivate effective goal pursuit.

However, Amir and Ariely (2008) posit that discrete progress markers (DPMs) or subgoals could cause complacency and draw attention away from attention in the primary finish goal. DPMs signal progress during goal pursuit. In line with Fishbach and Dhar (2005), Amir and Ariely (2008) suggest that accomplishing a DPM can lead to less motivation to attain an objective finish condition. DPMs might have negative effects to goal pursuit when goal progress is for certain – meaning once the distance, either temporal or spatial, towards the goal finish condition is famous. For instance, progress when finishing a marathon has high certainty because those be aware of exact distance from beginning to end to accomplish the aim. However, when goal progress is uncertain, a DPM may serve as an indication that goal pursuit is effective, which may result in greater motivation to pursue the aim finish condition. Amir and Ariely (2008) describe courtship of the romantic interest like a goal rich in progress uncertainty.

For goals with progress certainty, accomplishing a DPM may decrease total motivation to offer the goal. Amir and Ariely (2008) assert that although approaching a DPM during goal pursuit, motivation to offer the DPM increases. However, following the DPM is accomplished, motivation declines resulting in “a condition of complacency.” The internet result on total motivation to offer the goal might be negative. Furthermore, accomplishing a DPM for any goal with progress certainty, is a distraction in the finish goal. The thought of progress from experienceing this DPM can lead to less concentrate on experienceing this ultimate goal finish condition and much more concentrate on competing goals. Hence, DPMs or subgoals might have overall unwanted effects on motivation during goal pursuit for goals with progress certainty.

Fox and Hoffman (2002) propose a paradigm for persistence in goal pursuit. Their paradigm is definitely an amalgam of Lewinian (see Kurt Lewin) and Atkinsonian (see John William Atkinson) theories along with other mental theories. Fox and Hoffman (2002) leverage Lewinian concepts of hysteria and valence. Tension in goal pursuit arises when there’s a discrepancy between a person’s current condition and a person’s preferred goal finish condition. The motivational pressure to shut this discrepancy, and therefore get rid of the tension, results in persistence. Fox and Hoffman (2002) also leverage Atkinsonian concepts that equate persistence to conservation of momentum (a physics principle). Atkinson asserts that when an objective is initiated, efforts to accomplish the aim persistent unless of course “blunted with a strong exterior stimulus or through the arousal of the alternative, more powerful goal-directed inclination.”

With such concepts, Fox and Hoffman (2002) propose four mechanisms for goal persistence:

Proximal closure posits that because the distance from a goal finish condition as well as an individual’s current condition decreases, the “attractive motive pressure” to achieve the aim finish condition increases. The aim gets to be more desirable and it is completion more achievable. Furthermore, because the proximal distance towards the goal finish condition gets near, the motivational pressure to accomplish the aim and objectives connected by using it also increases.

Clearness of completion shows that because the steps to accomplish an objective become clearer, persistence to complete the aim increases. When the road to develop a goal is clearer, the aim is perceived as being more achievable, and subsequently, the motivation to accomplish the aim increases.

For that goal valence mechanism, Fox and Hoffman (2002) describe valence as “the level of attractiveness or desirability from the goal.” Goals which are perceived as being very valuable, understood to be individuals that meet the requirements of the baby, are high valence. Goals rich in positive valence aren’t easily substitutable, meaning they can’t easily be substituted with another goal. A person is more prone to persist to accomplish an objective that can’t be substituted with another goal.

For that intrinsic interests’ mechanism, Fox and Hoffman (2002) assert that in the quest for a principal goal, a person might develop interests in activities or encounters connected with going after the aim. Hence, even when interest however goal wanes, individuals might be motivated to persist toward goal completion to allow them to continue to take part in connected activities and experience that elicit positive affect.

Alternatively, sunk cost effects can result in persistence in goal pursuit. Arkes and Blumer (1985) define sunk cost effects as “a larger inclination to carry on an attempt once a good investment in money, effort, or time has been created.” Therefore, once progress in goal pursuit is perceived, individuals may persist in goal pursuit in order to not waste the energy already expended while going after the aim.

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