I’m a bit late with this post – after all, it’s the 9th already. But, I got to thinking about this coming year and wanted to share my thoughts about resolutions. I find that a lot of people in this business make a lot of them, and because of that, they might create for themselves situations that are hard to dig out of. So, rather than burying yourself under a pile of goals for the coming year, consider my way of handling resolutions – a much simpler, more straightforward to the whole idea.
Toss Out the Classic List
Don’t get me wrong – I love making goals for myself and my business. Without those goals, I wouldn’t be where I am today. But, that doesn’t mean I enjoy making goals so demanding and complicated that I’m almost completely unable to keep up with them. So, I’ve taken to this new method of breaking things down into manageable chunks.
Think of it as a highly managed way of creating a list of goals for yourself. Which means, get rid of that laundry list of resolutions you make every year. I see people with lists that include things like “lose 30 pounds this year”. Really? Could you get any vaguer? Don’t get me wrong – I think that’s a fantastic goal, but you’re only setting yourself up for disappointment when you make such indefinite demands of yourself.
What I’ve Started Doing
Since I started my own Christian home business, I make sure to sit down each year and create a list of goals for myself that are not only achievable but already within my grasp. Not only that, but I make sure to separate my business goals from my personal ones.
A lot of the time, these two categories tend to get mixed up, creating a push and pull between the two sectors of your life – not something I like to see happen in my household. So, rather than putting myself in a hard place, I separate them.
Then, instead of having massive, unclear resolutions, I break things down into monthly tasks that are much more manageable. Consider how much more reasonable it seems if you tell yourself, “I will lose 4 pounds a month between now and August” instead of “I will lose 30 pounds this year”. Instead of thinking that you need to get on a diet quickly and start shucking pounds, you can focus on smaller, easier goals each month.
The same goes for the business and for just about everything I do in my life. The stress is less prevalent, and I can still make those valuable resolutions each year that allow me to measure my success over time – not too shabby, eh?