When I entered the gym, it was virtually deserted except for one lone person riding the elliptical. The exercise goal for the people who crowded the gym on January 2, 2014 appeared to be over…at least at my gym.
Do you have a “dearly held” goal – one that at the beginning of January you wanted very badly – that has already dropped off the radar screen?
If so, there is still time to make that goal a force in your life and whatever you do, don’t put any more effort into one single goal until you read these three tips.
1-Limit the number of your “dearly held” goals. To be “dearly held,” you must have an emotional connection to the goal. If I want to lose that extra 5 pounds I put on during the holidays but I’m more emotionally connected to hunger pains and lasagna than to lettuce, carrots, and celery, then I don’t actually work on my “dearly held” goal of losing weight.
To be “dearly held,” the goal must be in the forefront of your brain, ever present in your subconscious as you make choices to have a cookie or take the stairs instead of the elevator.
Following my Harmonize Your Life principles, I recommend you only have three “dearly held” goals: one in each of your professional life, your personal life and your social relationship life.
A professional goal may be to make quota by the end of September, earn the customer service award, head up a committee to gain more visibility for your skills, etc.
A personal goal might be to take an online class, lose weight, save money, tone your muscles, carve out more time to enjoy nature, etc.
A social relationship goal might be to improve the relationship with an extended family member, a neighbor, or a work colleague. Another relationship goal might be to help a child through a difficult time.
2- Do the steps. You don’t do a goal; you do the steps to a goal. It is assumed that a New Year’s goal takes more than a few hours. The process of goal setting is to break the goal down into increments that have a final date for completion with built in checkpoints to ensure you are on track.
The magic to goal completion is to break the goal down into small steps or tasks that can be completed in a few minutes on a daily basis. These items are called instant start-up tasks.
When several instant start-up tasks show up on your daily task list, you are on your way to getting your goal.
3- Total Commitment. Total commitment is more than putting goal tasks at the top of your to-do list and putting sticky notes on the mirror. Achievement and success goes to the individual who makes a 100% commitment to the outcome. Commitment to outcome takes going over, under, through, or around – anything it takes to reach the desired results your dearly held goal would give you.
Total commitment could also be called uncompromising commitment that evaluates strategies and analyzes break downs. Uncompromising commitment means you:
- Hire help to reach your goal if necessary
- Find an accountability buddy
- Work with a mentor
- Decide what you are willing to give up to reach your goal
One last point: uncompromising commitment admits the truth that you fail forward to success. May 2014 be a year of failing forward to your successes.
Download this poster to post so you can remember what your three 2014 dearly 
held goals are. 2014 January Newsletter Goal Sheet_PDF
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