Revisiting the New Years Resolution - 3 Steps to make it happen

Here we are almost at the end of January. What's happening to your New Years' Resolution? If you are like me, you have started it with some success, but the resolve is waning. Things come up ... old habits creep in ... I am definitely not defending my new routine with enough fervor. Yikes! The "old" reality is taking over, before the "new" one has had a chance to get established. Why do we permit for this to happen time and again? No matter. Enough of the pity party. Let's get back on the proverbial horse and focus on the resolution we made for this year.

I believe the secret lies in the concept of "preparation". (Right now I am clearly suffering from lack thereof.) Preparation means staking out the terrain that leads to our goal. What and who is involved in the successful achievement of my goal? Today, let's focus on the "who".

Most parts of our lives are connected to other people. Ergo, other people are also interconnected with our goals. It is a matter of involving these key people, and identifying what may keep us from involving them. We need to have conversations. Are we afraid of embarrassment? Shy? Or maybe there are unresolved issues that keep us from talking to someone? Even fairly simple changes in routine can lead to conflict and frustration when we don't have clear buy-in from those who are intertwined with our routines.
So, here are 3 steps towards a successful New Year's Resolution.

Step 1: Identify the parties on your path.

• What are the main causes of your procrastination?
• Who is the person/people involved with that cause?
• Who is presently an obstacle in the achievement of your goal?
• Who are the key people that can support you in reaching your goal?

Step 2: Assess Roles and Level of Involvement.

• What do you need from the person to support you?
• How might enrolling them affect your relationship?
• Who might you enrol instead of the ones who refuse or don't participate?

Step 3: Preparing for the Conversation

• Check for any assumptions you are making about the person, and consider assumptions they may have about you.
• What might they need from you in order to support you? What are you willing to offer?
• What happens when they do/don't support you? What is your best alternative?
• Be clear on the ideal outcome of the conversation. How do you effectively communicate your message with this person? Be clear on what the 2nd best outcome is.

Success may hit us as a surprise some of the time - but it's rare. Mostly it takes many little steps - many little conversations - strategic involvement of various people and stakeholders, to reach a goal.

So, now that I've convinced myself of all this I need to clear my calendar to have some very important conversations! Let me know how your journey towards your New Years Resolutions is coming!

Integral Insight...

"A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline." (Harvey Mackay)