Make 2020 Your Best Year Ever!
The first few weeks of a new year are the most invigorating for me. I love a fresh start, and I love resolutions. This is great time to focus on setting up new strategies to change and grow. A time when many are inspired to set personal and professional goals and are determined not to let anything get in their way as they set out to accomplish them. It’s fantastic! As someone who has invested the past 20 years into helping companies achieve necessary and permanent change, you can imagine why I get so fired up.
What’s even more satisfying is when I see people and companies turn their resolutions into goals and stay the course all the way through the year. It can be all too easy to make mental notes only to have them turn into fleeting thoughts as your day-to-day responsibilities pile up. In fact, it’s estimated that only 9% of resolutions are achieved every year. Yikes!
It doesn’t have to be that way though. There are a few steps that you can take to help you increase the probability of following through on resolutions, giving you something to celebrate at the end of the year.
- Create Actionable Goals
For a goal to be actionable it must be S.M.A.R.T.
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Realistic
- Time-Bound
Jeff Ruby
Founder & CEO of RedRock Leadership
Here are a few common resolutions that people announce when starting a new year:
- I am going to grow my business.
- I am going to get in better shape.
- I am going to read more
Here is how to turn these resolutions into S.M.A.R.T. goals:
- I am going to meet with five new prospects every month and close at least one new deal to increase my business by at least 25%.
- I am going to run at least six miles per week, go to the gym at least three times a week.
- I am going to read 10 pages every day and finish one book every month.
Go to the RedRock Leadership Toolbox and download the RedRock Leadership Annual Goal Setting Workbook, get out your calendar, and then give yourself at least an hour to sit down and make detailed goals for the coming year.
- Schedule Important Commitments
If you want to make changes, you need to make sure you have the time. I recommend that you write down your commitments in a calendar so that you can keep what’s most important in front of you. Include all important events, not just high-level meetings or strategy sessions. If being at home for a birthday dinner or exercising are important to you, put them on your calendar!
Go to the RedRock Leadership Toolbox and download the RedRock Leveraging Time Battlecard and Priority Stabilizer. These tools have helped 100’s and they can help you remain committed all year long.
- Find an Accountability Partner
It can be tempting to keep our new-found commitments to ourselves. It’s safer that way because then the only one that knows if you don’t follow-through is you! This is counter-productive though. Nothing about your commitment to accomplishing your goals should allow for slacking off or defeat.
Make everything about success. Do this by telling someone what you want to achieve and how you want to achieve it. This can be a spouse, a friend, a mentor, a business partner, or all of the above. Ask these people to encourage and support you and tell them you’d love if they would check in on you. When you surround yourself with others who care, you will go much further than you if you try and go it alone.
Here are a few aspirations to keep close as the new year is launched:
- Every day brings new possibilities.
- Every day can be the turning point in your professional and personal life.
- Every day offers the chance to put real action behind thoughts and desires.
Next year, at this time, when you look back on 2020, what will you have accomplished? Don’t delay, get out of the gate quick and capitalize on a brand-new year.
Make this the year that you unleash your potential for exponential growth! If you want help kicking your year in to high-gear, contact us today!
Happy New Year from the RedRock Team!