Most people look at a calendar and think about WHEN. They wait until the end of the year and make New Year’s resolutions about WHEN they are going to make a change.
“I’m going to do this, or accomplish that.” Forty-five percent of people make a new years resolution; only 8% achieve them. Success seems to get lower as we age. Thirty-nine percent of people in their 20s achieve success compared to 14% of people over 50. Only 75% of people maintain their resolution for the first week; by 6 months, over half of the remaining ones have given up.
People who explicitly write down what they want to accomplish do a little better – it’s better to say I’m going to exercise and join a gym than it is to say I’m going to get healthier. You gotta be specific.
Here’s where the calendar comes in. Low tech; high yield. Look at the entire year as one calendar. Actually plan out when you’d take a vacation, what major goals and objectives you hope to accomplish, and what days are their deadlines. Then do the prep work. Ask yourself:
1. When are you really ready to commit to change? If you don’t really WANT to stop smoking, you won’t.
2. Do you believe you can do it? You can when you think you can.
3. Are you prepared for setbacks? The Dow Jones goes up and down and so will you.
4. Are you committed to sticking to the plan?
A calendar tells you a lot more then WHEN. It can help you break down what you want to accomplish into bites you can chew. And that’s the point – If you stick to a formula like this, a calendar can tell you HOW, WHEN and WHERE you’ll achieve your goals. It’s time to go find a pencil and a calendar and get started.
