This will NOT make your New Year’s Resolutions succeed!
I guess I’m a little late with this article.
Rainmaker, it’s been all of 5 days since we rang in the New Year, and a lot of New Year’s resolutions have probably already failed.
Hopefully yours haven’t — but maybe even if they have, I can help you salvage them.
After all, a day on the calendar can be made to feel important, but it’s really rather arbitrary.
The best way to change and set yourself on the right path to achieving your greatest goals is TODAY. Any dang day of the year.
Why New Year’s resolutions fail…
I recently saw one of those feel-good graphics people put up on social media.
You know the kind. A quote, designed to give you motivation.
It said…
“Turn I WISH into I WILL.”
That’s the whole idea of the resolutions most folks make.
They wish they could be skinnier or more fit. So on New Year’s they decide they will be skinnier or more fit.
They wish they could make more money. So on New Year’s Day they decide they will make more money.
And so on…
Here’s the big problem. There’s no fundamental difference between “wish” and “will.”
They are both based in the future.
If you want to achieve ANYTHING, it has to happen in the present, then ultimately the past.
Here’s my alternative: “Turn I WISH and I WILL into I AM DOING and I DID.”
It’s only be translating future thought into present action that you’re going to accomplish or achieve ANYTHING.
Example: I did more for my fitness in the last month than I did in the first 11 months of 2015.
Long before 2015 came around, I’d fallen off the fitness bandwagon. I’m not exceptionally unhealthy. I just lead a relatively sedentary lifestyle, with little actual work being done to make myself more physically fit.
Until I’d finally had enough, around Thanksgiving weekend.
So, I decided I was going to set a goal. Aside from any fitness or weight or other health measurements, I was going to do SOMETHING on a very regular basis.
That something, for me, was the kettlebell swing. (Not going to go into the details here, you can Google it if you don’t know it is.)
I decided that I was going to do 1,000 kettlebell swings in December.
That’s not something you can do in a day. It would require me to make it a regular habit.
Well, right as I was creating a spreadsheet to track these swings, I took a leap of faith in myself. Instead of 1,000, I jumped my goal to 2,000 swings in the month. That’s almost 65 swings every day.
Well, by the 26th, I’d blown through that goal, and was at 2,010 swings.
Rather than rest, I stretched my goal to 2,500.
And on December 31st, I hit it. 2,510 kettlebell swings during the month of December.
Oh, and by the way. It’s bad to just do a pulling exercise (which is what the kettlebell swing is), with no offsetting pushing exercise.
So I had done a push-up for every swing — meaning I also did 2,510 push-ups in December.
The net result?
I feel more fit. Healthier. Motivated to exercise more, and eat better. I only kind of measured my weight (at the YMCA, in a coat and shoes), but I think it’s down a couple pounds over the month, too.
The secret to success?
The secret wasn’t about setting a resolution or goal for the result…
It was about creating a system and a plan for the process and little actions that would lead to the result.
I didn’t set a goal to lower my weight, but I’m pretty dang sure excess pounds are falling off, and will continue to do so under this regimen.
I set a goal for the little things I can do TODAY that will take me in the direction I want.
I created a system and a plan to make sure I’m doing those things.
And I created a goal related to sticking to the plan (not getting the result) that motivates me to stay on track.
If you want your New Year’s goals to succeed, you need to focus on the little steps that will get you the goal, not the goal itself…
Mark Ford (who many know under his pen name, Michael Masterson) offers a compelling example of how this applies to wealth-building.
He’s been in the upper echelons of the investment newsletter business for decades.
He has, at his disposal, access to some of the top financial experts on earth.
Companies he’s affiliated with regularly publish recommendations for investments that have moon-shot potential.
And yet Mark ignores all of that when it comes to his own wealth-building.
For decades, he’s focused on just one principle…
A principle that’s turned him into a multimillionaire, a few times over…
“Grow richer every day.”
It’s simple. It sounds TOO SIMPLE. So most will ignore it.
But it’s been Mark’s core focus.
Find a way to add a little bit to your coffers, every day. And, don’t lose what you have.
Those two things, together, can be the source of more wealth than you’ll ever need.
When I’ve tried to do anything more — chase bigger returns, neglecting the risk — I’ve suffered. When I’ve copied Mark, I’ve watched my own personal fortunes climb.
Everything you want to achieve MUST be broken down to that level of simplicity…
If you want to get fit, you have to make decisions every day that will lead to becoming more fit.
If you want to get rich, you have to make decisions every day that will lead to becoming more rich.
If you want to be the top of your field, you have to make decisions every day that will lead you to the top.
Then, focus on, prioritize, measure, track, and execute the little things.
Your “dream house” — whatever it is — can only be built brick-by-brick.
So grab a brick, lay it, and then grab another…
Yours for bigger breakthroughs,
Roy Furr
Editor, Breakthrough Marketing Secrets
