Recently I ran across a short article by Dr. Adam Fraser, an educator in thought and human performance, based on the research of Dr. Stephanie Burns, who he describes as a "guru in the area of goal achievement." Here are a few points I thought were worth sharing with you as you begin your plans for the coming year.
First -- 85% of goals set are never achieved. I think this is good to know. Sometimes we feel like we're the only ones who can't stick to our plans past the 2nd week of January!
Second -- Having more time to dedicate to a goal has NOTHING to do with whether or not you will achieve it. This is one of those lies I tell myself every time I begin to lose steam on a goal I've set.
Third -- High self-esteem does not determine if you will achieve a goal. In fact, high self-esteem only only affects the SIZE of the goal that is set. And guess what? 85% of those grandiose goals are never achieved either. Keep your plans realistic for you.
Fourth -- This is the big Take Home Message. "Frequent and consistent action" are the key to accomplishing anything. That's it. Doesn't that make sense?
Tape that blank paper to the fridge or mirror. Begin thinking of goals (including financial goals) you would like to accomplish in 2011. Keep them reasonable and remember to take time to plan the frequent and consistent actions you'll need to accomplish them.
I like to start working on my new goals a week before Christmas. Then when New Year's Day arrives, I have nearly 2 weeks of success under my fledgling wings. It's an exhilarating way to greet January 1! (I also never stay up until midnight -- or beyond. I try to go to bed at a reasonable time and get up early and have a fabulous first day of the New Year).
Here are a few of my goals from 2010, and an accounting on how I did.
1. Join a book club (read books I wouldn't normally read and make new friends). Accomplished! And so much fun!!
2. Read 1/2 of the Old Testament. Nope. Hardly cracked the cover.
3. Arrange for all our insurance and investments to follow the Dave Ramsey guidelines. 35% done.
4. Dining Room Door saved for and installed. It's paid for, installed and looks stunning! This has been a goal for SEVEN years. I finally got it accomplished this year. I'm so proud of myself.
5. Start a financial blog with my girls. Yes!!
6. Lose 20 lbs. 50% accomplished. Better than nothing.
What goals did you work on this year? How did you do?
6 comments:
I completed a 5K in honor of my mom. It's the biggest thing I've ever completed & I worked for it all year. :)
Great post!
I set a goal to read the Old Testament- 56.3% done as of today. Obviously the goal won't be reached, but I'm pretty pleased with my progress. I started and then stopped, and then decided to start again. I use www.readthescriptures.com and that has really helped me stay on track.
Learn to play guitar- took lessons for quite a while, then stopped when I felt I just needed to practice on my own, and haven't picked it up since- I'd say 50% accomplished.
Go back to school when my youngest entered kindergarten- accomplished! I was almost derailed by my husband's layoff and a possible move, and almost put it off when we didn't have to move just because of all the stress at the moment, but ultimately took the leap and registered for classes. It's going wonderfully so far and I'm so glad I got started.
Lose weight- nope. Gained a bunch. But it's okay. I consider the other goals of way more importance to me personally.
I guess my annual list of goals is more like a bucket list. I have a combination of really fun things that I have an excuse to do because it's a new year's goal, as well as some practical or progression-type goals.
I made a goal to make a new recipe every week. I actually did really well on this - I only missed a few weeks due to things like finals or vacation. I had so much fun with this one though that I think I'll renew it!
No goals. Everything was too up in the air.
Congratulations on the weight loss. When we get past a certain age, any pound lost is worthy of an applause.
I tried something a little different this year- I wrote down about 10 areas of my life that I felt were important- spritual, mother, wife, physical, hobbies, etc- and decided 3-4 things that I really wanted to do in that area this year. Obviously that's way too many goals and not realistic to get a 100% on the final analysis, but it felt so good to look over it on Monday (we took your advice for family home evening to look over our goals and start thinking for next year) and say "Wow- I did complete at least one thing in each category- and so I've made improvements in lots of different areas. I'm definitely going to use that same approach this coming year! One of my goals was to establish a consistent routine of scriptures and prayer during my 3-yr-old's nighttime routine. I can confidently check that off as having become a habit this year!- though that will need constant attention to continue to be a priority in the coming months and years!
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