Happy You Year: Make 2013 the Year of You!

 Welcome to 2013, everybody! I hope your holiday season was truly amazing and resulted in many incredible new memories. Our holiday time off with friends and family across the region was fantastic and I am now ready to dare to be even more amazing in 2013!

Ya know, for many people, the dawn of a new year is a time for reflection on the past and commitment to the future. Everything that either was or wasn’t achieved in the outgoing year all come to bear on New Year’s Eve. And that can stir up both a feeling of satisfaction for a job well done and a sense of frustration for those goals that fell short.

Success and failure often become the springboard for setting of resolutions in the new year. The aim is to define these desired outcomes in such a way that it motivates you and inspires the necessary behaviors that stick.

Most of you have proclaimed new year’s resolutions in the past and achieved varying degrees of results. Count me in that, too. I’ve been losing thirty pounds and getting more sleep as goals for years. Anything is possible if I commit to it after four glasses of champagne! LOL!

See, here’s the thing. You are not alone. Using the fresh new calendar as a catalyst for change is a great way to go. Ya gotta do it sometime. Studies show that 87% of all Americans set New Year’s resolutions. And here is the ugly truth about the other side of this coin: incredibly, after just 30 days, 50% of all resolutions have been abandoned. And by the end of the year, well over 85% of all new year’s goals have fallen by the wayside – tossed aside like a two-week old, bruised up, mushy, smelly banana. Yikes!

Okay, big whoop. So we make ‘em and we break ‘em with great efficiency. So what is it that’s enabling such a dismal success rate on New Year’s resolutions?

The problem lies within the resolution itself. How they are defined kills the inspiration after just a short period of time. We make them too rich in content and way too complex or hard to achieve. We also make too many resolutions. It is too easy to express goals like they are an event that will all of the sudden happen – “I’m going to lose thirty pounds.”  TA DA! Like magic it will be so.

Example: “I resolve to get a new job this year.”

How exciting! A new job – Woohoo! With almost complete certainty, though, I propose that this resolution was made without consideration for the steps and the plan that it will take to achieve this goal. Days and weeks tick by, and nothing much has been done to fulfill this goal except some looking on Monster.com and in the want ads. Realizing just how hard this is going to be, the resolver starts rationalizing why their existing job isn’t so bad after all. And Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah - they convince themselves that they don’t need a new job after all. Resolution Shmesolution. Who needs all of that hassle anyway?

This person may have been capable of finding a new job, but after a while they found themselves unwilling to follow through. How frustrating …

Here is my proposal: Replace your New Year’s resolutions with New Year’s Evolutions.

Yep – EVOLUTIONS

New Year’s Evolutions

What’s the difference? It’s huge. Resolutions tend to be defined in one big step – I’m gonna get a new job. Here-to-there in one giant leap.

However, by defining your goal as an evolution, it implies that you intend to achieve it by completing multiple steps along the way. Accomplishing the goal will be a series of moderate-sized victories as you work towards the finish line.

The definition of evolution is that it is the process of growth or development. What a perfect vision for change. Note that it is a process – not an event.

At some point in his life, Shaq sucked at basketball. Same with Shawn Johnson in gymnastics – she used to fall off of the balance beam on a regular basis. It takes time. It requires a plan. There will be sunny days and rainy ones, too. And people will tell you that you will never get there. Defining your goals as an evolution allows you to see victories early and often so you are inspired to keep on going. What an amazing feeling!

Remember our resolution about getting a new job? Let’s try it as an evolution.

“I am not happy in my existing job. I know I can do better. I will define the traits of the company I want to work for, the type of boss that I will report to, the rewards I will achieve in my new job and the outcomes I want to achieve in this new line of work. I will seek the assistance of individuals who can help me and I will proceed with a plan. I will be patient and will never settle (unless urgent and temporary circumstances dictate that I must). I will have a new job when I know it is right for me.”

Phew! That is very different. It defines steps and milestones and feelings and emotions and concrete details of what this person wants. It is indeed an evolutionary process to find a new job. This, my friends, is a New Year’s Evolution. And it is defined for success.

So Happy New Year…

Umm, wait a minute…

Check that…

HAPPY YOU YEAR, EVERYONE!

How about you make 2013 the Year of YOU?

And do it in amazing style by defining your New Year’s Evolution(s). Just one or two should do.

What would be your top New Year’s Evolution you place above all others in your life or career? I bet you have a really amazing one in mind.

If you think it would help to talk about your “you year” evolutions and see what working together to achieve them would look like, please don’t hesitate to contact me. We can set up a complimentary phone call or in-person meeting to explore your evolutionary goals as well as what the path to realizing these goals would look like for you. It will be awesome to hear about your 2013 aspirations.