Wouldn’t you like to achieve more this year? More inches, more pounds, get faster, take on a challenge of any sort and succeed?
Then get rid of your resolutions because they suck and program you to fail!
We’ve all gone through the same process at the end of one year and the start of a next and taking some time to think about what we want to do this year and how things will be different but inevitably everything pans out the same and the levels of success attained are not as great as the original aspiration.
Of course we’ll focus on all things health and fitness but the same goes for all areas of your life - career, personal, relationships, adventure, finances…and the list goes on.
I’ve seen it on Facebook more evidently in the last 2 weeks with 1 or 2 people I know in various industries shouting about how 2010 will be “the year”, “their year” and how “it is going to be a very exciting year and time for massive change”
(which reminds me - why do so many people wait until the start of a year to make these promises and not get around to making change as soon as possible. Just supposing me, you or anyone fails our resolutions in say March, why wait till 2011 to start again!)
I can see that the same people are already getting into old habits by the nature of their more negative Facebook status updates. They don’t contain the same high hopes that they did a week or so ago and unfortunately I’m sure there will be more to come.
Don’t get me wrong - I have nothing wrong with resolutions as a starting point. It is a time of year when it is good to reflect on what you want to achieve and they can have a habit of being highly motivational, even if it is only for a short period. I just think there is a far better way to increase your chances of success and achieve more in the same space of time!
Here’s a few reasons why resolutions suck…
1 - There tends to be nothing specific about them. How do you know if you are succeeding if your resolution is to exercise more. Resolutions can be extremely vague, thats like going into a shop without any idea as to what you want to buy or going to an uncertain destination with no map, compass or sat nav!
2 - They do not exhibit any demonstration as to the reason WHY? All goal accomplishment programs, resolutions or otherwise are likely to go through periods of frustration and uncertainty and that positivity is likely to disappear so it is important to understand the WHYs as they help support the strong emotions attached to the goal and are more likely to result in positive action being taken more often, even in times of struggle. Resolutions do little to remind the individual as to why the task is so important. Less importance is likely to result in less action being taken.
The WHY can actually end up being the goal that is important. Exercising 3 times a week is not as important as perhaps losing 20lbs or hitting a size 10.
3 - Resolutions can be extremely unreasonable and inevitably lead to failure. Resolutions are usually set at times of euphoria and be something like I won’t drink for 3 months. Not a bad target to have and if you’re a regular at The Metropolitan then doing this will not only save a stash of cash but you’ll lose fat as well.
But what if you have a drink within the first month. You understand that to be failure when infact you still have plenty of opportunities to reinforce your decision and make good headway. The resolution in you is dead though which tends to lead to further poor decisions being made and resigning to failure.
4 - They lose importance to you because you never evaluate them. There is no measure to test whether you are going in the right direction or not.
5 - Goals in this format also become intimidating after they have been set. They are sat there in your mind, being evaluated as to whether they are possible or not. Resolutions start to become unachievable!
6 - Resolutions set this way in your head or on a piece of scrap paper tend to lose their appeal. This relates to not having important WHY’s but also the justifications that go on in your head that the goal that has become intimidating is now not so important and failing at an insignificant goal is okay. We know the truth but resolutions will set many up to fail this way.
First off, there is nothing wrong with failure but accepting failure in this environment generally means that there is no effort either and an acceptance of little to no chance.
7 - Resolutions never look at the cost; that is the factors required to achieve the goal. There will be some idea but no real acceptance of what is required. This inevitably leads to a “I’ll start next week” type attitude and before you know it the resolution has lost its importance…..until next month, the month after and before you know it, 2011 is around the corner and its time to wait till then!
Another interesting side note is that there are some people who can use this type of approach and succeed because the instinct to act on a resolution is contained deep inside and/or this approach has less fear in some cases. To that I say each to their own but I do know that for the massive majority it will not work and the 7 reasons above are highly significant for the reasons why they will not. In those few cases that it does work, I would argue that the time taken is far longer in which case their resolve and persistence to succeed are far greater than they would give themselves credit for.
For now, simply choose the opposite to what the majority do by…
1 - Being very specific about what you want to achieve
2 - Understand WHY you want to achieve it. Doing this step alone will help measure how important the goal is to you.
3 - Understand WHAT you will have to do in order to succeed. Again, be specific
4 - Have a goal that excites and inspires you. Does exercise inspire you or getting into the little black dress or being a certain size?
5 - Check your goal on a regular basis, are you getting closer or further, are your actions taking you closer or further?
6 - Remind yourself of your goals on a regular basis - Do they still appeal? If not, are there valid reasons and can the goal be replaced by a one that does inspire, have an importance and a big WHY.
7 - Do not be afraid of failure - Failing on a big, exciting and inspiring goal means achieving a lot more than a dull, lifeless goal with no ambition.
Next I’ll be having a go at why S.M.A.R.T. goals are not so smart and the real solution to goal achievement is to Q.U.E.S.T.
Laters
Mike
