A New Year’s wish is a fantasy, reliant on forces outside you for fulfilment. If you decided that this is the year you’ll finally lose weight, double your income or start that blog, but you didn’t follow that up by working out how, then it’s highly likely you’ll be amongst the 90% who’ll make the same wish come 31st December this year.
I don’t know about yours, but unluckily my fairy godmother has never waved her magic wand in my direction to miraculously increase the size of my bank balance while simultaneously shrinking the size of my jeans.
On the other hand, she’s pretty awesome at pushing things along after I’ve taken some action and kicked them off in the right direction.
Last January, Deb Keep gave us seven fantastic tips for effective goal setting. But for me, having goals is not enough. I need to know how I’m going to achieve them, too.
It’s not that I’m a stickler for planning (although I’ve been accused of that). It’s that I’ve learned that when I leave my options too open I have a tendency to choose none of them. Flesh out my goal with some structure, and before I know it, I’m on my way, and the outcome is practically guaranteed.
As an example, last year two of my best friends and I “resolved” to see each other more often – a bit of a logistical exercise since they live at the extreme opposite ends of Sydney. Result? At a hastily convened get-together just before Christmas we had to admit that catching up twice in twelve months wasn’t what we’d had in mind.
This year, we’ve been much more specific: we’re going to meet once a month for a meal, a movie or both. The dates are blocked out in our diaries. It’s no longer a maybe; it’s a must. And I’m looking forward to seeing my besties six times more often than I did last year.
What’s your New Year’s resolution? And how do you plan to make it happen?
“ My fairy godmother has never waved her magic wand in my direction to miraculously increase the size of my bank balance while simultaneously shrinking the size of my jeans. ”
Jayne Tancred is Concierge of the Flying Solo forum and helps to edit our contributor articles.
