We are now in the beginning of 2008, and it is a great time to get this year right from the beginning. For that, there are three simple steps you should do:
1. Set a goal of the year
2. Set strategies for each facet of prosperity
3. Make review a habit
While you can always add other steps, I believe these three steps are the basic. They act as foundation to make this year your best year ever.
Let’s take a look at them in more detail:
1. Set a goal of the year
A few years ago, I set several goals in the beginning of the year. Unfortunately, I later realized that not a single goal was achieved. This happened again the following year.
Eventually, I realized that the reason why I failed was lack of focus. I set too many goals which made my effort scattered among too many things. Realizing this, I then changed my approach and set only two goals. The result was much better: I achieved one goal and partially achieved the second. Fast forward to 2008, I now have only one goal. I believe having just one goal will significantly increase my chance to achieve it.
So, if you haven’t done so, set your goal for this year. If possible, set only one goal, but if you really must set at most two. One important thing is the goal must be specific and measurable. For instance, it is not enough to say that you want to have higher income in 2008. You should specify the figure you want along with the time target to achieve it. A good goal is: "Earning $4000 a month by the end of the year". Having such specific and measurable goal allows you to know whether or not you have achieved it.
2. Set strategies for each facet of prosperity
We all want to have a prosperous year. A good start is setting strategies for the four facets of prosperity: financial, spiritual, physical, and social. You should specify what you want to do in each facet to improve your prosperity there. By setting strategies for all four facets and doing them, your quality of life as a whole will improve.
Here is an example of strategies for the four facets of prosperity:
- Financial
Explore two new income sources a month - Spiritual
Meditate everyday for at least 30 minutes - Physical
Exercise three times a week for at least 20 minutes - Social
Know at least one new person a week
You can set as many strategies as you want. These strategies act as guidance for your effort in each facet. They ensure that you do something for each facet and do the right thing. Without such guidance, it is far too easy to emphasize just one or two facets at the expense of the rest.
3. Make review a habit
Setting goal of the year and strategies for prosperity will not help you much if you never review them. During the course of the year, undoubtedly there will be a lot of occasions in which you deviate from the course and need to be realigned. It is the review time that realign you, and that’s why you need to make review a habit.
Generally, the best review frequency is weekly. In this weekly review you can check your progress in achieving your yearly goal and implementing the prosperity strategies. The habit of reviewing helps you stay on course the whole year.
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These three steps may look simple, but they can give you big advantage to make this year your best year ever. The best time to start, of course, is now.
It’s so important to have a very specific goal. My criteria for setting a goal is that a complete stranger should easily be able to tell whether or not I have achieved it.
I wrote a guide to setting and executing your New Year’s Resolutions successfully on my blog that your readers might find helpful. I truly believe that we can accomplish ANYTHING with the right plan in place.
Nice tip, Marina! If a stranger can easily tell whether or not the goal is achieved then yes, it’s a good goal.
And thanks for informing us about the New Year’s Resolutions article.
To keep those goals create a slogan that reflects your underlying values, motivation – and theme for the year. For starters see these ideas
http://www.movingfrommetowe.com/2007/12/28/what’s-your-personal-slogan-to-live-by-in-2008/
– Kare
Interesting idea, Kare! I have some favorite quotes which I may use as my personal slogan.
Sometimes we get caught up in the “new year spirit” and after sometime, the “buzz” goes away. Then you come to a point where giving up seems all so eays…
so perseverance is another thing I would like to focus on.
Setting goals is nothing new to us. We’ve all gone down this road time and time again. Sometimes, we succeed. Sometimes, we fail. And miserably, too. Ultimately, I believe that the odds of fulfilling a goal is up to us. Unless we are ready to make certain sacrifices, we won’t be able to stick to our goals for long.
Sham,
I agree. The situation you described often happens to many of us. Perseverance is what we need to keep moving on.
Jen,
“Readiness to make sacrifices” is indeed important. Often we just set goals without the willingness to pay the price.