New Year's Resolutions Redux

[Editor's Note - This is modified repost of an earlier blog that somehow seems relevant]

I’ll go ahead and spit it out right now… I HATE New Year’s Resolutions! I always have. Even as a kid, I thought they were silly. I’ve always believed (and also known) that the likelihood of success is about 0%. So year after year after year I sit at the NYE dinner table and listen with venomous contempt as my friends and family make their profound intentional declarations for the upcoming year. Maybe it does work for them, but it’s never worked for me. Like most everyone else, by February 1st, I’ve forgotten what my resolutions were.

Enough venting; I’m now climbing off of my soapbox…

Here’s what I do know, however -- Having a vision of where you’re going increases the chances of you achieving your goals. I’ve said it over and over again: Knowing the “What” helps us figure out the “How!” So maybe there is something to the New Year’s Resolution shenanigans?

I have a young, very successful friend who keeps his New Year’s intentions (both personal and professional) taped to his bedroom mirror. This strategy works for him and allows him to continually and casually revisit his annual goals. He does not share these with anyone (other than those lucky few who get to visit the inner sanctum of his bedroom), and he has a better sense of where he’s going than anyone else I know.

Another idea that works well comes from a federal coaching client I've been working with. She keeps dry erase markers in her shower to keep her vision visible, as well as to modify and keep her resolutions current.

So maybe resolutions do work? Let's throw out those prior misconceptions and try something new this year.

Here’s the challenge I’ll give you, Gentle Reader:

What’s ONE thing you want to accomplish in 2008?

New job? New car? New life partner? New hairdo?

What’s yours going to be? Write it down (in the shower!), tell a friend, shoot me an email. Just do something to get it out there!

Easy enough?

Happy Holidays and have a terrific New Year!