3 Secrets for Setting Resolutions that Stick.
If you’ve noticed weeks, months or years drifting by, and your biggest goals are no closer to reality — then your dreams may be a tad:
Whimpy-dimpy.
Limp-n-lifeless.
Lacking Oompa-Loompa-ness.
Draggin’ the spiritual ground.
Shnooozerville.
Sure, they may sound awesome on paper, and your friends may “Hoo-Rah!” when you say them out loud. But if they don’t make you drool with anticipating, spark a passion in your swirling solar-plexus, and inspire you to take BIG action –– then you want to review your list before January 1st.
Tis’ the season for dreaming big, plotting your course, and setting sail into the year ahead. But if you don’t know the secret to setting goals that actually work, that’s the first place you MUST to start.
So . . .
- Are you wanting more money?
- Are you wanting more clients?
- Are you wanting to lose weight?
DANGER, DANGER: If you said “Yes!” to any of the thoughts above, then you may have a problem.
A big one.
Because the statements above are pretty darn impotent in the passion department.
Goals need 3 things to ensure their survival – traits to guarantee that they leap OFF the pages of your journal and out into your real-life . . . as tangible results you can touch, see and feel:
SECRET #1: Goals need to knock your (emotional) socks off!
SECRET #2: Goals need to happen soon (within the next 3 months)
SECRET #3: Goals need to be measurable.
So while it SOUNDS good to say: “I want more moolah!” it’s tough to maintain your mojo with a thought like that.
Let me explain, while I walk you through the 3 secret steps:
SECRET #1: EMOTIONAL EXCITEMENT.
Let’s use “money” as an example . . . Money is NOT what you’re wanting. Never was. Never will be.
Sure, the idea can light you up for a few minutes now and then. But there’s no gas inside it’s motor. There’s no oomph to propel it forward month after month after month after month.
To turn a money goal into one that will knock your socks off, you have to dig down deeper — into what that money can PROVIDE for you. What you truly desire is what that money can BUY — like:
- A new shiny car
- A vacation to Hawaii
- A savings-account with $50K to give you more financial freedom + choices
Those can create excitement. Emotion. Overflowing giddiness. You can picture it in your mind, you can get jazzed about the thought, you can imagine the details of what it will be like when you’ve got it in your cute little hands. (A limp, lifeless pile of buckaroos is NADA compared to these juicier delightful dreams.)
Secret #1: Check!
SECRET #2: MAKE IT HAPPEN FAST.
Once you have a goal that sings to your heart, make sure they’re something that’s attainable soon. Fast. Pronto. Brains can be pretty darn impatient (if you haven’t noticed)– and if you don’t have something that it can sink it’s temporal-lobe-teeth into right away, you may find it hard to stay motivated and focused.
Sure, you can have long-term lists or 1-year goals at hand (I recommend that you do!), but it’s great to have a handful of smaller, tangible goals you can be gobbling up in the coming weeks and months, too.
. . . So if you long for $50K in the bank, how about start off with $100 first? Set smaller, bite-sized benchmarks you can reach within 1-3 months… and get yourself addicted to the sweet feeling of SUCCESS!
Once you get hooked on reaching your smaller benchmarks, your larger goals will manifest before you know it – almost as if by magic. (And totally, utterly painlessly).
- Want to be booked solid with 20 dreamy clients? Try shooting for just 1 first.
- Want a shiny new car? Shoot for a test-drive of your dream ride in the next 30 days.
- Want to lose 25lbs? Gut your kitchen of all the crap in the next 3 days instead. (Then move on to your first 5 pounds, taking 3 walks a week, and other teensier benchmarks.)
Do whatever you can to give yourself a gold star sticker – and FAST.
Secret #2: Check!
SECRET #3: MAKE IT MEASURABLE.
If you can’t measure what you’re wanting, it’s going to be pretty tough to get there. It’s like having the desire to go on a road trip, but never picking the exact destination before hitting the road.
You’ll just never quite know whether you’ve ever really reached your mark.
Making your goals clear, tangible and measurable is the last step for rocking your resolutions.
So let’s use the goal of being “happier” . . . What will that look like? Get specific:
- Will you spend time with girlfriends 3x a month?
- Will you have more date-nights with your sweetie?
- Will it require that you go to yoga, or church, or meditate more often?
Get crystal-clear. Then set a rock solid benchmark:
- Set up 12 outtings this quarter for hangin’ with your gal-pals.
- Go on a date-nite with your Significant-Sexiness 4x this month.
- Craft a plan to go to yoga 2x this coming week.
That’s the only way you’ll truly know when you’ve gotten to that longed-for land of Shangri La.
Secret #3: Check!
Living your dreams is NOT easy stuff. If it were, billions more people would be doing it. Most people set goals, and never ever ever achieve them.
And that’s because it’s just not enough to HAVE goals, dreams and desires.
You’ve got to have an Unstoppable Action Plan (with a big, fat, fabulous focus on the word “Action”).
And these 3 secrets can be the first steps toward quantum-leaping how YOU unleash your creative juices out into the world.
It’s all up to you whether you’re going to make your dreams real, or not. If you’re going to create a little teensy bit, or a whole gushing gob of greatness in your lifetime.
These 3 simple steps can be a the starting point for rockin’ your resolutions this year… hot diggity dog!
The sky’s the limit baby – dream big… and get your buns boogyin’…
Then come share YOUR Top-3 2013 goals below — Unstoppable minds want to know:
© 2012 Stephanie McWilliams LLC
