New Years Resolution? Goal-set your way achive what you want in 2008

Now is the time to make 2008 your best year ever

With 2008 almost upon us it is the time that many peopledecide to set their New Year Resolutions.

The best way to think about goal setting is to imagine boat. A boat goes from harbour to harbour all its life. When the boat’s captain sets out on a journey, he or she knows exactly where the boat is heading and, unless there is a terrible disaster, it will arrive at its planned destination. The boat may not travel in a straight line; it will have to adjust its course many times during the journey, but after a few hours, days or weeks, it will arrive at its destination.

Imagine what would happen to the boat if the captain didn’t decide where he was going and just set off to see if he could stumble across a suitable place to dock. For every warm, secure harbour to aim for there are a hundred miles of rugged coastline or sandy beach. And what would happen if the captain decided to play it safe and just stay where he was? A ship that’s left in harbour will turn to rot and rust.

What would you describe as the main areas of your life? You may wish to consider these 7 categories:

Health, Family, Career, Education, Wealth (savings and investments), Home

and Fun.

Out of 10, how would you rate yourself in 2006 for each activity? Nobody would be expected to have a 10 in each area, but could you do with a higher score in one or more areas? Have you been so busy achieving a 10 in one area that you have neglected the other 6? Perhaps all 7 could do with a general improvement?

You may have your own categories and if so that’s great. But we should all be able to measure what we’re proud of and what we could do with more help in. Now that you’ve looked back and have decided that, let’s say, your earnings are not what you would like them to be, it’s up to you to decide what you would like them to rise to by the end of the year. First of all, realise that this is possible and secondly, understand that if you want to increase by more than the norm, then you will have to put extra effort and energy into this area. So if you want to double your earnings, then you will have to be prepared to double your effort. You will have to be worth more to your employer, or if you work for yourself, you will have to be worth more to your customers or increase the number of people you serve. If you are willing to take the time and effort to do this, then there is little that will stop you.

In short, you need to have a goal for what you want to achieve, a plan for how to get to that destination and then do something to get you there every day.

If you are still struggling with what you actually want to do differently in the New Year, here is a thought for you. The best way to find the answer is to ask the question. By asking ourselves questions we can usually find the truth. Some people can go their whole life without ever considering what they really want out of life, and then wonder why things don’t work out the way that they wanted. It’s like climbing a ladder only to find out that it was leaning against the wrong building.

So, to get you going, here are a few questions you might want to think about when you are planning what to do in 2007. What would you like to achieve? What would you like to earn? Where would you like to visit? Who would you like to meet? What would you like to read? What is your favourite thing? What car would you like to drive? What would you like to learn? What would you like to weigh? How far would you like to run? What could you do better? What would you like to do differently? What is holding you back? What would you like to do less of? What would you like to remember as your high spot? What friends would you like to spend time with? Who would you like to visit? How would you like to be remembered?

Spend a quiet hour or two and think through what goals you would like to set for yourself. Start with the 7 categories first (or as many categories as you feel fit your life) and then start asking yourself questions. The ones that I have listed are just the start.

Write them all down on a sheet of paper. Write down anything that comes into your head. Some of it may be fanciful, some of it ridiculous. At this stage it doesn’t matter, just write all your goals down. Now make a selection of all the things you have written down, I’d suggest a maximum of about 10, but it’s really up to you.

When you have written them all down, see if there are any obvious conflicts (it would be difficult to become the world’s pork pie eating champion and lose 3 stones in weight).

If two goals do conflict, decide which one is most important to you. This is also a good time to see if your goals are well balanced. If your goals are all to do with money and you have none connected to your family or your health, then in a few years time the chances are you will end up rich, divorced and ill.

Once you’re happy with your goals and their balance, put an ETA (Estimated Time of Achievement) on them. Some you will be able to achieve by the end of February, some may take months or years. Put an estimated date on each so that you have something specific to aim for.

Then write down each one and phrase it in a way similar to this: ‘by February 28th I will have visited the gym 25 times.’

Say what the specific action is and identify when you are going to do it by. Most important of all, write it down, keep it with you and look at it every day. The best time is first thing in the morning and last thing before you go to bed – the list will help to keep you on track. Once you have accomplished one of your goals, put a tick beside it and have a celebration. The bigger the goal reached, the bigger the celebration. Then decide on a new goal in its place and repeat the process.

I recently looked back at some of the goals I had when I set up The Ideal Marketing Company. What seemed like an ambitious dream a few years ago is now part of my day to day reality.

If you do this, you will look back on 2008 as the year that you accomplished a whole series of things that in 2007 seemed difficult – if not impossible. This process, or similar ones have worked for the most successful men and women in history, from Henry Ford to John F. Kennedy from Mother Teresa to Richard Branson. It’s used by great athletes and scientists, business owners and authors. Most people who achieve extraordinary things are not extraordinary people. They are just ordinary people with goals that give them extraordinary enthusiasm and drive. Now their secret is yours to use for the rest of 2008.

The Ideal Marketing Company supports Leicestershire and Northamptonshire companies as well as companies from across the UK with marketing, PR and direct mail. The Ideal Marketing Company helps support companies with marketing consultancy in order to generate new business wins as well as making the most of existing customers.

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