***Top 3 Things to Make Your Goal Setting Powerful in the New Year

Now that you are in a New Year, it is time to finesse your resolutions for success How to Make New Year Resolutions You have heard it all before: Eat less Stop smoking Exercise more Be nice to people …and so on. STOP already! It is the same thing each year. You make a bunch of promises that you will never keep or see through for a week, let alone seeing them through till next year. Have you ever heard, “The path to Hell is paved with good intent.” You are not doing yourself any favors when you approach your goals half-hearted. While you were busy setting yourself up to fail, you were better off not doing anything at all. Too many people achieve failure by not knowing a few basic steps to goal setting. I have found that these 3 principles, when followed, assure that you give yourself the fighting chance to succeed. When painting that path for the New Year, you want to start out on the right foot – to achieve success. Here are 3 basic principles with successful “goal-setting” that are seldom followed. (These are also the tips and tricks that make your jou ey easier.): What truly makes you happy? Happiness is not found on the TV, in Magazines, or other Media. You may think otherwise. But here is one way to recognize something that actually makes you happy. It is relatively easy to achieve, and it is sustainable, without continually feeding it. These are things we tend to take for granted. Be Happy. Your happiness will not be achieved by doing what other people want you to do. Your happiness will only be achievable when it comes from within you. What is your passion that drives you? For you to be successful with goal setting, you must have a reason that drives you for those many days, weeks, months, even years it takes to reach your goals. Your endurance rides on the back of your passion. But first you must recognize what your passion is, so you can assign it to the task. If your passion does not align with your goals, then your goal is flawed – don’t bother. Find your goals that go hand in hand with your passion. Just look. They will be there. Setting achievable goals What good does it do if you set your goals too high? Usually you will wear yourself out before ever reaching your fist benchmark. Set smaller goals. When you set huge goals, you are setting yourself up to fail. By paving your road with success, it will lighten your burden along your path to your ultimate goal. Here is an example of a driving commitment to achieve a goal using these 3 principles: If you are overweight and out of shape, and you are scheduled to go on a vacation in 8 or 9 months, what kind of experience do you think you will have? As you are considering this, you realise you are not going to have the fun times you should be having if you are out of shape. Even though others have been pointing this out to you, it really makes no difference. It only matters when you point it out to yourself, and that you can make the change. So now you see the first two points come together; your target and your driving force to reach that target. When approaching setting your goals, you will have the ultimate goal in mind. Break it down into “bite-size” chunks. Set benchmarks for yourself that are easily achievable. Will you get a Medal for Bravery at the end if you do it in one big hit? Of course not! It is still the same long range goal. Nothing has changed. Except, you will feel much better about your struggle if you have those little benchmarks along the way. This gives you confidence you are heading in the best direction. I hope these few tips will help you in the New Year. Shannon Panzo