Achieving Your Resolutions

New Year's day has come and gone. Have you made any resolutions for this year?

How about resolutions from the past years? Did you manage to achieve any of those? If, Yes, what made you to achieve them?

If, No, what kept you from achieving them? Then again, do we really know what a resolution really is? By definition, once someone has made a resolution, he has made a pledge to achieve the said goal, no matter any difficulties or oppositions that may come his way.

But then, many people set New Year’s resolutions each and every year, you may say. Question here is, do they set these resolutions just to forget them later? Or were they able to try to achieve, reach and capture these goals?

Think & Plan
In order to make a resolution, it must possess certain qualities. First, it must be achievable or realistic. Otherwise, you will just be making empty promises to yourself. Think of a resolution as a promise and each time you give up on it as having lied to yourself. How would you feel when others lie to you?

Also, you’ll need to be passionate and true to yourself. Ask yourself “Is it worth all my efforts? Am I resolute in its accomplishment?” If not, don’t set a resolution that you are not willing or able to keep. Napolean Hill, in his landmark book, Think and Grow Rich, said, “The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat."

Do
Once you have decided on your resolutions and the goals necessary to achieve them, do remember to WRITE them down. Get a cardboard, write down your resolutions and hang it on your wall, if you will. Treat this as a contract which you will have to fulfill. This way, you will be making a deeper commitment to accomplish them.

Review
Finally, review your progress regularly. Are you still on the right track mentally, physically, spiritually, financially, relationally, etc. to achieve your goals? If you are not making progress, hire a coach, tap into the support of loved ones, analyse why the goal is not being met. Don’t allow the goal to just fade away. Figure out what you need to do to accomplish it.

At the end of the day, achieving your goals and resolutions can only make you and your life better. Don’t let them fall by the wayside. When you begin your new year with solid direction and desired outcomes in mind, you set yourself up for awesome success. Luckily for all of us, we’re still in the early days of 2006; there’s still time to adjust or fine-tune our resolutions. Plan to make this year your best year ever! Best wishes and good luck!

(This article was first published in JobsDB.com - link)