Alright, it’s that time again. It’s New Year’s resolutions time! In year’s past, maybe you came up with goals to have something to aim for or maybe it was to impress someone else. Or maybe you just felt like it was something to do. Whatever the case, I think you’ll only be fooling yourself if you don’t strategize your year properly.
Being that it’s the beginning of the year, I’m in a goal-oriented mood. One that is the looking out over the forest view, not just the “in the trees” put you head down in the sand perspective. Oftentimes, we forget we have brains and just work, work, work. But, you do have a voice, a brain, a mind, and you should take advantage of the time we have at the year’s inception to start planning.
Let’s get to it. Here’s how to actually achieve your 2017 goals and New Year’s Resolutions:
- Take a timer, set it to five minutes. Write all the goals you’d like to attain for 2017. Seems obvious, right? Here’s the kicker. When five minutes is up, you’re done. Pencil down. Stop typing. The point of five minutes is that we all have goals and our goals are always in our subconscious. If you want to make lots of money, help others, get healthy, etc. These five minutes will allow your subconscious to come forward quickly because if you don’t have any more time, those goals just weren’t important enough to be jotted down.
- Find five pictures on the Internet that you want to be defined by. Print them out and stick them on your wall. These pictures may be a picture of Mark Wahlberg as the body you want to become. It may be the photo of Mark Zuckerberg for his ambition of learning something new every year. Or it could be a picture of a hospital for giving back to those who need it more than you. Whatever the case, these images should be the ones you want to grow towards.
- Achieve five uncomfortable objectives. I’m a firm believer in stepping outside your comfort zone to grow in ways you’re not used to. This tests your patience, perseverance, and mental toughness. One of my objectives is to network more and put myself out there. As a CEO of my computer support company, I find myself stuck behind my computer most of the day. I think we all do that too much. So, I’m looking to make more face time, not Facetime, with clients, network with potential industry partners, and the like. Other objectives you may find yourself awkwardly shying away from, but should face are: public speaking, reading books, picking up a sport, and changing your routine.
- Make five new contacts or friends. Look to cozy up to five people you’ve either admired, wanted to friend, or wanted to mend a bad relationship with. This will help you grow and flourish either by example or just having that personal connection. At the end of the day, we should be surrounded by people we love or really like. Having a circle of friends is the easiest way to do that. It is easy to lose touch with college friends and others so this is your time to rekindle those friendships.
- Attain five new skills. Hey, you didn’t think I’d let you just be stagnant, did you? This may fall into the first point of the five-minute timer goal jotting. This last one could be: learning a language, being a better reader, learning how to remove a computer virus, or anything else helps you grow.
There you, have it. My rule of five. Follow it and you’ll enjoy a blissful, eventful 2017. Happy New Year!
