Happy New Year Everyone!
It’s already January 2nd, 2019 and like many of you we are setting goals and making plans for the new year. Experts say that most people will give up on there new years resolutions by 12th of January (that’s in 11 days). According to Forbes Magazine 80% of Americans that make news year’s resolutions will fail by the 2nd week of February, and only 8% of goal setters will achieve their goals in the coming year.
Over the past 20 years I made a lot of mistakes and along the way I figured out how to do a few things right, one of those things is goals setting. In my experience goal setting can be a little stressful and confusion, so I’m going to give you a few tips in setting your goals for success in 2019.
Vision is more important than Goals
If you want to hit your goals in 2019, you must create a vision for your life. You must be intentional about who you are, what you are about, and adopting a mindset and philosophies that will move you towards the vision you have created for yourself.
The reason vision comes before goals is when you create a vision or a vision statement for your life, you can measure everything you do against the vision to make sure your goals and activities line up with the vision that you have created for yourself.
Let me give you an example. Let say that you set a goal for yourself this year to make $5,000 a month in your business, or you want to lose 50 lbs. Making $5,000 a month or losing 50 lbs. is not a vision, it’s a benchmark. Goal are not really goal’s, they are benchmarks, that move you towards the overall vision you have set for your life. Vision is who you would be, and what it would feel like if you were making $5,000 a month in your business, or who you would be, and what it would feel like if you weighed 120 lbs. The reason you want to establish vision before goals is that when we are not achieving our goals, our focus shifts away from the goal to what’s not working. For example, if you want to make $5,000 a month and by the 2nd week of February your only making $500 a month, or you want to lose 50 lbs., and by the 2nd week of February you have only lost 5 lbs., your focus will shift to what’s not working or what you believe isn’t going to work, or what hasn’t worked in the past. However, if you create vision before goals, when your focus shifts away from your goal to its not working, you can shift your focus back to your vision, adjust and keep moving towards the vision you have created for your life.
So, vision is more important than goals, and if you have never created a vision or a vision statement for your life you need to take inventory of your skills, talents, experience, history. To do that ask yourself a few of these key questions:
- What are you good at?
- What are you passionate about?
- What do you naturally do better than anyone else?
- What are your strongly held opinions?
- What’s most important to you?
Goal setting requires more than a couple of hours.
My wife and I have been setting goals every year for the past 20 years and we have learned from some of the most successful people in the country that goal setting is a process practiced continuously year-round until their goals have been achieved.
Here are Six Characteristics of Master Goal Setters
- Must be in writing
- Must be specific – Clearly Defined
- Must have a timeline – Set a deadline
- Must have a plan
- Must be willing to do the work – pay the price
- Must be verbalized – Say It
So, goal setting requires more than a couple of hours of commitment, it’s a year-round process. If you want to be one of the 8% that realize there goals this year you need to make an annual commitment to goal setting.
Commit to personal development
I have found over the years that my lifelong commitment to personal development is the bedrock of my success. Everything that I have ever done and ever achieved is a result of my commitment to personal development. Successful people are committed to reading the books, listening to the audios, going to seminars.
Your best thinking and decision making are what’s gotten you to where you are today. If you do not change your thinking, things will never change for you. In order to be successful, you have to model successful people. If you want to be one of the 8% that achieve their goals in 2019 you have to want it as bad as you want to breath, you have to read the books, listen to the audios, attend the conferences and the events throughout the year.
My wife and I are in different companies, Last year we made all our company conferences as well as 3 additional conferences that we registered for and attended that were not produced by my company. As a result, I hit 80% of my goals that I had for the year and have developed some new skills that I will be showcasing this year to grow my business and realize the vision I have created for my life.
You must make personal development a lifelong commitment if you are to realize your vision and goals you have set for 2019.
In Closing, I would like to suggest that you take the first 31 days of 2019 and commit yourself to the process of creating a vision, setting goals and get committed to personal development. Attend your company kick of events in your local and regional markets, and if you really want to get crazy, take it to another level and attend an event with your favorite speaker or conference filled with speakers. Kim and I are kicking off our year by attending the 10X grown conference in Miami FL. Hosted by Grant Cardone, and featuring speakers like John Maxwell, Steve Harvey, Russel Brunson from Click Funnel and more…. Its going to be amazing!
Happy new year and happy goal setting!