Goals become opportunities for solutions
Despite the best of intentions, once the glow of a fresh new year wears off, many people struggle to make good on their plans. According to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, only 46% of people who made New Year’s resolutions were successful.
The study also involved non-resolvers, people who did not make a New Year’s resolution, but had a goal they wanted to achieve that year. Only 4% of non-resolvers were successful at achieving their goals. Naturally, we don’t want to be in the camp of folks that fail to achieve their aspirations and dreams for 2022, so we’ve put together an exhaustive plan for following through on your resolution.
Goal setting is the most important of all personal improvement ideas. Goals give you a sense of purpose and direction, a process to keep score, and the confidence that only comes from knowing where you’re going. When you have goals, you develop an almost mystical ability to achieve them. You begin to develop that insatiable desire to do whatever it takes, to develop whatever you need to develop, to achieve your goal. Occasionally, most people have thought about changing or improving. Some even go to the extent of buying a self-improvement book, but few ever complete it.
Many people dream of becoming, of succeeding, but very few will ever realize their dreams because they never do anything about it! “To have…you must become!” might aptly describe the number one reason that the majority of people will never reap the rewards — they never pay the price — they never take their dreams and establish goals.
If you have a goal, something to strive for, you can become whatever it takes to achieve the goal.
The value of goals is evident in the world of sports. Can you imagine a football game without a goal post? Without goals many people play the game of life, running up and down the field without ever scoring. Goals help us to overcome obstacles to success. In hockey, the goaltender tries to keep the puck out of the net. In life, we say we try to achieve our “goals” but we are our own defense. When goals are not written and specific, when we have no plan, our “defense” is our own self-image, self-doubt, and procrastination.
When your goals are clearly defined, problems become “opportunities for solutions,” and determination becomes our dominant characteristic. Our attitude becomes positive and confident. The late Will Rogers, one of the most quoted and remembered Americans, once said, “The difference between winning and losing any contest begins long before the game starts…and it’s no secret. The winners expect to win – the losers just hope.” If you expect to win, to succeed – you will!
Setbacks can happen, but so long as they are handled correctly, they will not impact the big goal. The key is to avoid a defeatist attitude at all costs, i.e. “Well I screwed up once, why should I even try to do this anymore. Final thought: It’s better to tackle one resolution well than multiple resolutions poorly.
