Nothing like a good dose of negativity to start off your year, right!
Well, did you know that according to research by the University of Scranton, 92 percent of people that begin the New Year with a set of goals never accomplish them? With such a high percentage of unfulfilled goals, what is the point, right?
Before you take off running with that thought in mind and decide to quit, we need to find out what makes us not follow through. And, we need to learn what the other 8 percent are doing to be successful in accomplishing their goals.
Percent who never succeed and fail on their resolution each year 42.4%
Percent of people in their twenties who achieve their resolution each year 37.8%
Percent of people over 50 who achieve their resolution each year 16.3%
One of the top New Years resolutions every year is losing weight and healthier eating. Some others are self and life improvements, changes in financial spending habits, prioritizing family and friends, exercise, doing good deeds for others, find a better job, quit smoking etc.
Any ONE of those things would be a positive life change, but less than half of people who make resolutions are successful. There is absolutely nothing negative that would come out of pursuing one of the resolutions above so what makes us unable to make that permanent and lasting change? If our goals are meant to improve our lives then it wouldn’t make sense to quit.
Research by Edwin Locke and Gary Latham show that:
Results from a review of laboratory and field studies on the effects of goal setting on performance show that in 90% of the studies, specific and challenging goals led to higher performance than easy goals, “do your best” goals, or no goals.
David P. Swain & Brian C. Leutholtz in their book Exercise Prescription suggest that:
1. Goals should be challenging but attainable.
2. Clients should set long-term and short-term goals.
3. Goals should be highly specific and practical.
4. Clients should enlist social support to help them reach their goals.
So if your goal is to gain 50 new clients in 2018 for example, what is your plan? Ask yourself, “is that goal challenging yet attainable?” If it is, then how will you get there? Instead of looking at a 12 month goal, break it down into 3 month goal segments so you gain about 16 new clients the first quarter and so on.
Write out a plan for how you are going to reach out to prospective new clients. As stated above, be specific and practical. And finally, don’t do this alone. Rely on your team members, your family or friends for support and accountability. When you know someone is going to follow-up with you on a regular basis, or work alongside you, then you will be more likely to make it happen.
So don’t throw out that Vision Board you spent time creating, or the Goal List you wrote out. Just make sure you are following the 4 steps above because they are applicable to any goal you set for yourself. It will make a dramatic difference in the way you think about your resolutions and you WILL be the percentage that succeeds!
Cheers!
www.alimondphotography.com
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