Founders Corner Vol II Issue I

Written by Tony Loupe | 06 January 2010

Making New Year's Resolutions Count

Article By:  Goals.com

If you're like most people, you've probably experienced the sudden burst of motivation that comes in early January, as holiday indulgences make their way to the waistline and New Year's resolutions force a new look at the figure we see in the mirror.

"This is the year," so the resolution goes, "that I vow to lose ten pounds and keep it off." Other common variations include goals to get back to one's "true" weight, to fit into a size ten, etc.

And worthy resolutions they are. Sadly, New Year's resolutions are notoriously short-lived, if not completely forgotten by February. The trick to making resolutions work is to follow the same steps required to make any goal work, as follows:


1. Choose the Right Resolution

For all too many resolutions, failure is virtually assured at the offset because the resolutions are not made with serious intent and deliberation. The first trick is to choose the right resolution, for the right reasons.

Give some thought to what you really want and why you want it. What direct benefits do you hope to receive? Is a weight-loss resolution meant to improve your self-esteem? Attractiveness? Vitality? Longevity? Identifying the "why" helps you avoid setting goals for the wrong reasons.

Next, decide how difficult to make your resolution. Aiming high generally makes people try harder. Optimal performance comes from goals that are difficult, but not so difficult that we don't believe they can be accomplished.

Finally, be specific about your resolution and make it official. Being specific means phrasing the goal in words that make it obvious whether or not the goal has been completed, by a specific date. A resolution "to lose 15 pounds by April 30th" is much more effective than the ambiguously phrased goal "to lose weight."

Once you've decided on the wording, formally commit. At a minimum, write the goal down on paper or enter it into your account at myGoals.com. For even more commitment, look yourself in the mirror and state the goal out loud. This may sound corny, but it works. The important thing to remember that a resolution is fundamentally a commitment to yourself. Make the commitment formal. The more ceremonious, the better.


2. Create a Plan

Most resolutions fail because people stop once they've made the resolution. It is crucial to harness New Year's temporary motivation into something that will carry you through an extended period of required effort.

Upon clarifying the exact goal that you are setting, next create a plan for how you intend to accomplish your goal. With any reasonably good plan, you are fairly likely to make significant progress or actually accomplish your goal. Without a plan, you are very unlikely to succeed.

The key to constructing a good plan is to identify the exact steps that you will take toward accomplishing your goal, and assigning due dates to those steps. Coming up with a comprehensive list of steps is not easy for everyone. If you encounter difficulty, the solution is to get help, such as hiring a personal trainer or using this site, which helps people through the planning process by first asking people to identify all of the obstacles that stand between them and their desired goal. Once the obstacles have been identified, it is fairly easy for anybody to generate a comprehensive to-do list for accomplishing the goal.


3. Stay on Track

With a good plan in hand, making significant progress toward your goal may require very little discipline for those who live strictly by daily planners and love nothing more than checking off items on our to-do lists.

But for those of us who can use a little help with staying on top of details, the answer, once again, is to seek outside help. The idea is to find some external thing that keeps you motivated, such as a personal fitness trainer or myGoals.com's email task reminders.


4. Remain Flexible and Keep on Going

A recent realization among goal-setting experts is the need to continually modify our approach—sometimes even changing or abandoning a goal altogether. The reason for this is that circumstances beyond our control frequently crop up at the most unexpected and inconvenient times. We can also expect our short-term and long-term priorities to change. So long as we build flexibility into our expectations, we can simply adjust things as we go.

It's therefore best to periodically reevaluate our goals and plans, perhaps once per quarter for a year-long goal such as a New Year's resolution. First, make certain that the goal itself still exactly reflects what you want to do. If it's not, adjust it. Next, go through your plan and identify any portions that aren't working well, even if it simply means giving yourself more time to complete a particular task or milestone. Keep in mind that missed due dates do not necessarily indicate a problem with your performance; it might simply mean that your plan was too aggressive, or that your environment has changed in some unexpected fashion. Either way, simply adjust your plan and continue onward.

Finally, the flip-side of setting difficult resolutions is that you must remember to acknowledge partial success. Losing 15 pounds is cause for celebration, even if your original goal was to lose 20 pounds. If you are just one step closer to your goal, then you are better off than before you began. Pat yourself on the back and keep on going.

Founders Corner Vol I Issue XII

Written by Chad Pasley | 03 December 2009

In reading Keith Ferrazzi’s (with Tahl Raz) “Never Eat Alone – And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time” I reached Chapter 11 – Never Eat Alone. And for me the first several paragraphs paint a simple picture and define the purpose for networking, and why it is so important. I have included a few of these interesting paragraphs…

"The dynamics of a network are similar to those of a would-be celebrity in Hollywood: Invisibility is a fate far worse than failure. It means that you should always be reaching out to others, over breakfast, lunch, whatever. It means that if one meeting happens to go sour, you have six other engagements lined up just like it the rest of the week."

"In building a network, remember: Above all, never, ever disappear."

"Keep your social and conference and event calendar full. As an up-and-comer, you must work hard to remain visible and active among our ever budding network of friends and contacts…"

"Now you have to work hard to be successful at reaching out to others, but that doesn’t mean you have to work long. There is a difference. Some people think building a network requires eighteen-hour days slogging through meetings and phone calls. If I’m slogging, or even if it feels like slogging, I’m not doing my job – at least not well. Or perhaps I’m in the wrong job. Building a network of friends and colleagues is about building relationships and friendships. It should be fun, not time-consuming. When your network is set, your goals written down, you’ll find plenty of hours during the day to do what needs to be done."

(Never Eat Alone - And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship At A Time – By Keith Ferrazzi with Tahl Raz, Excerpts from Chapter 11 – Never Eat Alone)

 

To me this states the obvious for the entrepreneur and small business owner. In the world of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media, today’s technology makes it very easy to escape behind your keyboard and screen and appear to be “networking”. However, building relationships take time, includes face-to-face meetings and putting forth real effort. Developing that network of friends, associates, and professionals that can help support your efforts means you must take action. Sometimes hitting personal or professional goals/targets can be assisted by WHO you know, not just WHAT you know.

 

So my challenge to you:

1. Meet with two people this week for coffee. They don’t have to be friends or colleagues, but maybe someone you have come across in the past. Someone that might have a connection that you could benefit from – or better, you can be of benefit to them.
2. Call a mentor of yours. Someone whom has helped you in the past. Someone whom saw something in you that maybe you did not see in yourself. Thank them!
3. At the end of the week document your efforts. Can you say that you made a new connection that will help your personal, professional or spiritual life move forward?  A connection that will add additional purpose to your life?  If not, what can you do different next week? Who will you meet with next week that will?