Pick One. Just One.
It’s getting to be New Year’s resolutions season, which means that soon you’ll be inundated with all sorts of lists of the top resolutions and how to make them happen.
Well, I have an early suggestion. Don’t make New Year’s resolutions.
A ridiculously high number of them are more a token statement anyway than an actual resolution followed up by committed action. So skip the vague sense of guilt and do something more productive instead.
Take a look at your life and where you want to be a year from now. If there are changes you’d like to make or things you’d like to do, pick one of them.
Just one!
Pick the one that means the most to you, the easiest one, or the one that will have the biggest impact. You can even pick the one you draw out of a hat, assuming that all of the ones in the hat are things you’d like to change or do.
Don’t stress over it. The important thing is to narrow it down to one somehow.
Once you’ve got your one, remember that it’s “the” one, and give it your all.
This means making an actual plan as to how you will achieve your goal. A plan with a bunch of small, specific steps. Once you have the plan in place, do one step per day, or 3 steps per week, or whatever it will take to reach your goal.
Don’t be tempted by all the other more-promising or more-urgent sounding things that will come along. Those are just tests. Set them aside, and keep working every single week on your single goal.
That’s the path to success, and you’ll get there.
And make the first step ridiculously easy – the first step is the hardest!
Good tip! (And sometimes the first step can be making the plan…)
I’ve actually picked 3, I don’t call them resolutions, and I’ve already started, so by the time New Year get’s here I’ll already be working on my goals.
Cool, what are your goals?
1. Pay off credit card debt
2. Lose 15 lbs
3. Investing in myself by taking a few online courses
I have so many goals … it’s hard to pick one place to start! But I agree that picking one and sticking to it is better than attempting to do everything, getting burned out and doing nothing.
It is hard to pick just one! But plus, by doing so, you’ll also be much more likely to achieve it.
This year I’ve decided only on goals that overlap and support each other. Such as, I want to save a certain dollar amount by the end of 2011. I also want to cook more foods at home and learn some basics like making yogurt and cheese. Well, whaddya know? Cooking from scratch saves a ton of a money. Bam! 2 birds, one stone.
That’s exactly my plan too :)
Well, except with a completely different goal.