Archive for December, 2010

I went to the gym today and saw lots of new faces and it got me thinking….It’s the time of year when people will reflect on their lives and make a resolution to start the new year. Multiple studies show that more than 50% of us will make one. Why? Surveying my clients, friends and associates many make resolutions because they feel they should. Some do it because they genuinely want to make changes in the following year. However, if you truly want to make a change, don’t waste your time with a New Year’s resolution. Less than 30% of New Year’s resolutions will still be alive by the beginning of February.

If you want to make a real change, set a goal, create a plan and measure, measure, measure. Over the next month, I’ll post specifics on each of these topics but here’s an overview.

1) Set a goal – When setting goals, make sure you understand why it’s important to you. That understanding will be one of the things that motivates you to achieve your goal. When I set my 2010 goals, one of them was to lose weight. While looking healthy was important, the real driver for me was ensuring I was giving myself the best chance to live a long life and enjoy my children. Also, make sure your goal is specific so it can be measured.

2) Create a plan – Just setting a goal doesn’t make it happen. You need to ensure you understand the steps you must follow to achieve your goals. Your plan should be broken into smaller components that are also measurable but show your progress on your path to the goal. My cycling goal for 2010 included weekly training plans, interim rides to keep me motivated and some fun days of riding with the girls.

3) Measure, Measure, Measure – Create a personal tracking sheet that displays your progress and allows you to measure your goals (a sample of my personal tracking sheet can be found here: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rxuHPywM94s/TKyYRPRi3SI/AAAAAAAAAHw/bUfW1hKfOo0/s1600/August2010.JPG)

I’ve found that measuring your goals increases your likelihood of success by more than 50%.

Once you’ve created your plan and have a measurement system in place, send your goals to friends and family and ask them to hold you accountable. It’s amazing what that will do for your motivation.

Thanks to all of you for your support over the past year – I’ve had great success in achieving my 2010 goals in part because of each of you! I’ll publish my final tracking sheet right after the first of the year.

By early February, I’ll be able to tell the goal setters from the resolution makers by who is still showing up at the gym!

Happy New Year!

AmK