A very happy new year to everyone!  I just got used to writing 2013 and now I can’t believe that it’s 2014.  Boy, does time fly or what?  But with the new year comes an important transitional time in everyones lives.  It’s a chance to create new goals, dreams, wishes, and rules.

To be honest though, how many times have we come to this phase in our lives all to fall back into our old habits only a few weeks or months later?  Well this time around I am not going to allow this to happen.  What I have come to realize is I tend to like and try too many things all at the same time.  When I follow my natural instincts it takes me on multidimensional levels that I can’t even keep up with.  I get lost in my pursuit of information and then lose track of the progress I make because I am so consumed with too many subjects.

I have decided to set two very specific rules for myself this year.  Why two?  Because I feel the old me always took on way more than I could chew.  The old me would always be the strong starter but weak finisher.  The new year is bringing about a new me with new rules.

Rule # 1 – Set deadlines for my goals and hold myself accountable for my choices, whether good or bad.  

I am constantly dreaming, wishing, planning, researching and aspiring to do amazing things.  However, a goal is nothing but a dream and a wish if there is no set deadline.  That is the honest truth.  Before I can start achieving results and analyze my progress I have to know what I am comparing myself too.  I can’t compare myself to others because we have different sets of dreams and wishes.  But, I can compare my results and analyze them based on the deadlines I set.  If I don’t set a deadline how will I know if I achieved anything or not?  If I’m constantly and aimlessly shooting for things but don’t have a finish point how will I ever know if I even made my dreams come true.  So this years rule # 1 for me is to set deadlines while holding myself accountable for all the choices that lead up to my goal.

Rule # 2 – Be consistent and focused on one thing at a time and finish what I started.

Again, being a Jill of All Trades and Master of None I tend to chew more than I can bite.  I start many things but lose focus and tend to leave many of my wishes unfulfilled.  This year is going to be all about setting my goals, being focused and consistent with following through with the appropriate actions to help achieve those goals and finally finishing what I started.  I plan to do this by tackling one goal at a time.  I have been planning a lot and with all great visions 80% of ones work needs to be dedicated toward planning.  But I am done planning and am ready for the remaining 20%, which is the implementation phase of my goals.  I will remain focused on doing exactly that and hopefully all my dreams will come to fruition in the near future.

I don’t believe I’m being unrealistic and nor do I believe I have set out to do the unachievable. I am setting real rules that I know I can follow.  I am setting up realistic scenarios to help encourage my progress.  I am very satisfied and content with my decisions and I am looking forward to this year being one of the best I have experienced so far.

Time to reflect:

If you are like me and you set too many resolutions and goals in the beginning of the year and then fail to achieve more than 80% of them, try applying this tool in your life.  Pick only one or two rules you want to set for yourself.  By focusing your attention and simplifying things for yourself, you allow yourself the opportunity to actually achieve your resolution.  It’s great to have a positive attitude going into the new year.  But maintaining that same positivity throughout the year is a difficult task if you try too much at once.  So try to simplify things in your already complicated life and choose one or two things that you know you have a high success rate of achieving and build your year from that.  As the year goes on and you achieve your desired goals, set new ones (again by simplifying) and start a new resolution mid year.  Keep doing this and you will see that by 2015, you will have achieved way more than you even set out to do.  Good luck!

“Learn from the past, set vivid, detailed goals for the future, and live in the only moment of time over which you have any control: now.”  ~ Denis Waitley