Thursday, January 3, 2008

New year resolutions - good or bad

Over the last few days I have heard and read a number of opinions about new year resolutions. Some have said they are a waste of time, others that they are important. I think we need to look at it in a different way. Making a new year resolution in and of itself has no value IF we don't execute and change as a result of it. Otherwise we are like all the politicians blanketing the state of Iowa making all kinds of commitments they cannot possibly keep. I encourage you to consider looking at these as year long goals and something you are willing to be accountable to. Without accountability they likely won't get done. Let's be honest - left to our own discipline - we do what we want when we want to. So here are a few things I encourage you to do as you chart your course for 2008.

1. Make SMART goals.
S - specific
M - measurable
A - achievable
R -realistic
T -time sensitive

2. Share your goals with at least one other person (or better yet a peer group of folks) and ask them to hold you accountable.

3. Get up daily and have those goals where you can see them. Out of sight = out of mind.

4. Execute. Vision without execution is hallucination.

For me, one of the personal goals I have set for 2008 is to get my weight down where it belongs, or at least closer. I want to get down to and maintain my weight at 235. Still too much but 30 pounds less than I was at the start. I am putting this out there to my peers as a means of accountability and leaning on friends and my wife to help keep me on track. I know I can drop the pounds - it is the lifestyle to stay there that is my challenge. I won't do it alone.

What are your goals for 2008? Do you have a plan. It is far better to shoot for the moon and miss than to aim at nothing and hit it. Get thinking and writing some things down. Then share it. There is power in sharing with peers!

No comments: