"I’m going to stop eating sugary snacks." "I will lose weight." "I will write a best-selling novel." "I’m going start budgeting my money." ‘Tis the season for resolutions. You know how it goes. You eat too much yourself at Thanksgiving and Christmas so you feel like a gravy-drenched blimp by the end of the year. You get stressed out at your job because of the typical year-end panic. You get stressed out because of holiday shopping and endless parties to attend. It’s no wonder that, by the end, all of us feel like we have weight to lose, bad habits to stop, and myriad tasks to improve upon. So when January 1 comes around, you take out your spanking new planner and enumerate those items you will do the next year to be better, skinnier, or less in debt. Setting goals is never easy. There always seems to be so much at stake in making the wrong goal. I mean, why send yourself into a downward, self-defeating cycle by setting setting your sights on something you can’t hit or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, goals that are far beneath your skills? To help you set goals you can actually persist in, here are a quartet of questions to lead you your selection: 1. "Is this resolution do-able?" Pardon me for stating the obvious, but you should set goals that you can actually accomplish. I should not, for instance, make a goal to have Brad Pitt’s body type by the end of the year. Not going to happen. Even with the advances of modern plastic surgery. Also, I should not set goals to give up red meat, stop playing video games, or even invent a workable teleportation device, at least not just yet. Know thyself, the saying goes. Know what you are capable ofcan do. Expect great things of yourself but also accept the finest transformations come in small increments. Therefore, try not to set unattainable goals. Doing so only evaporates your assurance in your capacity to reach goals. Set your sights on something you can move toward steadily during the year. 2. "Is it measurable?" Although it is a good sentiment, it is not enough to resolve to endorse world peace. Why? Because you would have a hard time benchmarking your progress from day to day. You might help an old lady to cross the street in January. Does that mean your goal has been realized? You threw a peace sign to some guy at the golf course. Are you through? The truth is, you would never be sure when you finished or how far you made it. You can generate assessable goals by ensuring they arebeing sure they are more exact and assigning order to them. For example, instead of just advocating world peace, decide to volunteer at a soup kitchen every week. Or decide to collect $10,000 to help out casualties of genocide. Set a goal to take out your neighbor’s trash weekly. As long as you can calculate your advancement, you have greatly improved your chances of keeping your resolution. Minute day to day victories also have the power to compensate you as you go along. It recharges your batteries and helps you keep your resolve strong to work on this goal all the more. 3. "Do I have a plan?" You know how they say, "A dream is just a dream until you have a wokable plan"? Well, maybe you don’t, but they do, you know, They - those people to whom everyone ought to heed. Regardless of who They are, it is simple common sense that most goals which do not also include plans usually don’t get reached. It’s like saying to yourself, "I want to go to Panguitch, Utah. I want to go to Panguitch, Utah." Merely saying the words will not magically convey you to the small, isolated town of Panguitch. No, you need to unfold the map, find the right direction, and start driving. It is just the same with any other objective. You will not accomplish your goal simply by writing it down. You need to start a plan whereby that goal will be obtained. For instance, if you want to lose weight, make a schedule that tells you what days of the week you will exercise, what foods you will eat, or how you will reward yourself for milestones reached. The more exact your plan, the better. 4. "Am I committed?" Going into a challenging resolution with only lukewarm commitment almost assures failure. And then you put yourself into the uncomfortable condition of resolving to better keep resolutions. Therefore, only determine to do a thing that is significant enough to you to stick with it for an entire year. For instance, if you’re considering resolving to refinish the kitchen cabinets, but the cabinets are about as high-priority to you as making your cousin’s terrier a sweater, you are setting yourself up for failure. Resolve to do something you are passionately keyed up about. Choose something that will warrant your full attention. If the doctor just informed you that you are in danger of developing heart problems if you don’t lose weight, then that is probably enough incentive to stick with your resolution. If you just decided that you want to be just like the Rock because he wears cool pants, your commitment may not be solid enough to stay the course. All four of these questions involve setting yourself up for success, instead of failure. Learn how to set and plan for realistic, measurable goals that you can commit to and you will find yourself actually accomplishing the resolution you make today because you stuck with your personalized plan.
Article Source: http://www.articlecontentprovider.com/articlesubmit
"I’m going to stop eating sugary snacks." "I will get skinny." "I will write a best-selling novel." "I’m going start budgeting my income." It's that time again for making resolutions. You know how it goes. You stuff yourself at Thanksgiving and Christmas so you feel like a gravy-drenched blimp by the end of the year. You get stressed out at your job because of the characteristic year-end push. You get stressed out because of gift shopping and endless parties to attend. It’s no wonder that, by ...
This article was written and distributed by ClassesandCareers.com, a leader in Online Education. If you are looking for a specific Distance Learning Course, our website can help you get started.
Please Rate this Article
5 out of 5 4 out of 5 3 out of 5 2 out of 5 1 out of 5
