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February: a reset for your resolutions

By on February 6, 2014

By Annemarie Cross

How many of us start the year off excited and inspired – ready to leap into action towards achieving the New Year’s resolutions and inspired intentions we set in January?

Yet, a few weeks in, the level of enthusiasm has dwindled and the list of resolutions seem impossible to achieve. So much so, that we give up on them.

Can you relate?

Static Brain found that only 8% of people are successful in seeing their resolutions through to fruition.

According to Life Hacker, the reasons so many of us fail to achieve our resolutions is because we set up too many at once, make them too vague, or we’re just not motivated to see our resolutions through to completion.

Now that it’s February, if you find yourself struggling to stay motivated (or you’ve already fallen off the proverbial wagon after the first week in January), yet you’d love to be part of the 8% of people who DO achieve all of the goals – keep reading.

Here are three steps to get you reconnected and recommitted to your goals:

1. Acknowledge
Now is the time to get specific and totally clear on your goals and resolutions.

As Life Hacker identified, we struggle to reach our goals because we are so vague when stating them.

For example: “I want to grow my business” is too vague.

So what does “growing your business” look like to you?

Be specific.

Here are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

What is your annual (yearly) money bold goal?
Break down this yearly figure into quarterly (or even monthly) amounts – so you know exactly what your targets are.
How many new people would you like to add to your list each month?
What methods of marketing will you implement to achieve this? Speaking? Podcasting? Social Media? Etc
What programs will you be launching through the year?
What gaps do you have in your knowledge/abilities? And, what professional development opportunities will you invest in this year?
How will you know that you have achieved your goals? What will be your evidence? How will you monitor this?
How often will you track your progress?
What activities will you use to boost your visibility?
How does this map out, month by month?
These are just a few things to get you started.

Specificity rules! Without it, you’ll continue to struggle.

So, step one is to acknowledge and get really clear on exactly what it is you want to achieve.

2. Activate
Do you get excited (and a little nervous) as you look at your goals and resolutions?

If not, you’ve probably NOT tapped into the real reason WHY, you really want to achieve this. And/or, your goals are small (you’re playing it safe) and you need to play bigger.

This step is designed to activate your emotions and get you so excited about your plans, that it propels you forward.

What is your BIG why? Your BIG vision? Your purpose and calling in the world?

Identifying your big why, your vision and purpose is like adding rocket fuel to the mix.

During one of my recent Coaches Connection Podcasts I shared my BIG why – my mission statement as well as my personal mission statement.

My BIG Why (my Inner Brilliance and purpose) is to inspire possibility and greatness in the lives of my clients. My personal mission statement is to inspire hope and possibility in the lives of children in underdeveloped countries so they can live a normal life with the opportunities that we so often take for granted.

Thinking about being able to inspire hope, possibility and greatness in others – empowers and drives me forward. It’s exciting. And, so rewarding.

So what’s your big why? Your personal mission? Your calling?

It’s time to activate your enthusiasm and commitment by getting clear on these things:

Your big why and your big vision (which should be aligned with your purpose and calling)
It’s also important to start breaking down your goals and resolutions into bite-sized steps. [Remember that old saying “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time].

While your big bold goals and resolutions may seem the size of an elephant to you now, once you start breaking each goal into smaller steps, you’ll have a clearer overview of what you need to do.

Hence allowing you to activate the tools and resources you need to get into action.

A process I use with my clients is the Powerful Biz Goal process.

1. Be Specific

What is it that you want to achieve?
2. Measurable

Why is the goal important to you?
By when do you want to have achieved your goal?
How will you know you have achieved your goal?
3. Actions

What actions need to be taken to achieve your goal? List them all!
4. Resources

Who / what else do you need to achieve your goal? List them all!

3. Act
This step comes in two parts.

Schedule it in your diary
Take action.
Yep – that’s it.

Act = Get into action.

Get moving on the steps you identified in step 2 and start crossing off the list as you continue to complete them.

And, voila, before you know it – you’ll be well on your way to achieving your goals and New Year’s resolutions.

So what happens if along the way, you feel unmotivated and things aren’t going your way?

That’s an article I’ll be working next. However for now you may like to consider doing one of the things that I do when I feel that it’s all too hard. I remind myself of my bigger why.

If I’m not out there taking action, I’m not helping my clients. And, if I’m not helping my clients – they’ll continue to struggle and won’t be able to recognise the potential and greatness they have inside them.

This is something that is so important to me that I immediately spring back into action.

Here’s to achieving ALL your goals – one step at a time!

Annemarie Cross is an authority in influence and impact – a Business Coach residing in Melbourne.

Money, Marketing & Mindset Business Coach for Women Entrepreneurs: Annemarie draws on her 18+ years’ award-winning expertise to provide ‘step-by-step’ personal branding, business building and marketing strategies alongside breakthrough personal, business & money mindset principles for women in business so they can stand out, get more clients and build a wildly successful business doing what they love. Annemarie is also the International Award-Winning Podcast Host of the www.AmbitiousEntrepreneurShow.com.

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