New Year's Resolutions verses Developing a Plan to Achieve a Goal...

Each year people make New Year’s resolutions as a declaration of commitment to themselves to make changes in their lives.  Have you wondered how effective resolutions are?  Do you achieve your New Year’s resolutions?  If you achieve your New Year’s resolutions you are in the minority.  Surveys suggest that less than one percent of New Year’s resolutions are achieved.  It is merely a ritual people have followed for decades.  The question is, “Do you want to make changes in your life?"  Making a resolution to accomplish something without a plan to achieve it is like putting gasoline into a car that doesn’t have an engine. 

Developing a Plan to Achieve a Goal is surprisingly simple. There are many plans one can use to achieve a goal.  The easiest goal-setting plan I use is four steps.  See, Think, Plan, Act. 

Step I: See:  See the situation/issue/habit/behavior as it currently is—Describe it, Define it, Analyze it. 

Step II: Think:  Think about what you want instead of the current situation or how you want to change an issue/habit/behavior.  What would the new situation/issue/habit/behavior look like?  Who is involved in the situation/issue/habit/behavior?  Who needs to be involved to create the change?  Who will benefit from the change?  How will I convince those involved to go along with the change? 

Step III. Plan.  What steps do I need to take to achieve the change? Research the various aspects of your plan.  Check for feasibility, viability and possibility.  Set a ‘by when’ date.  ‘By when’ will I act on my plan? 

Step IV:  Act.  Implement the first step of your plan.  When you have acted on the first step of your plan, you have now arrived at Step I again. 

Step I:  See:  What is the current situation/issue/habit/behavior after taking the first step?  Has the action I took in Step VI created the change I wanted?  Am I happy with the result?  If the answer is ‘Yes,’ continue to follow the plan created in Step VI one step at a time.  If the answer is No, proceed to Step II.

Step II: Think:  What didn’t work?  What do I need to change to get the result I want?  Who do I need to talk with to help me? Continue to analyze the current situation/issuehabit/behavior until you have thoroughly analyzed the outcome of your initial action.  Proceed to Step III—

Step III: Plan: What changes are required?  Who needs to be involved?  When all aspects have been analyzed, Proceed to Step IV again.

Step IV: Act:  Once you have carried out one aspect of your plan you are back to Step I. 

Goal achievement is that simple.  When people do not reach their goals it is not because the goal was a ‘bad’ goal it is because people do not have an effective Plan to achieve the goal or they fail to act on their plan and/or analyze each aspect of the plan as the plan unfolds to determine if the plan is achieving what they intended to achieve.   May you achieve all your goals for 2005.