It's that time of year and many people are deciding on their New Years resolutions. I personally have never really been into that. However, I do like setting goals for myself throughout the year. Over the years, I have found some very basic techniques that I believe have allowed me to move forward in my personal and professional life while others stagnated. In a nutshell, I take the time to try and learn something new every single day with the singular purpose of being better today than I was yesterday. Additionally, I set goals for myself and I share them with close friends so that they will encourage me. Here are six rules that I have used for personal improvement. Follow them and you will see a change in your life. If you are already doing them, please comment below about how it has worked out for you.
1. Learn something new everyday
Steven Covey called it sharpening the saw. I love that analogy because growing up I had the duty to chop wood for the stove when my family lived in New England. Having a sharp hand saw or axe made all of the difference in how fast you could get through the work. The same is true for us. If we are consistently learning new things, we able to be more productive in our personal and professional lives. Take the time to learn something new everday. I love books on tape. I am an Audible.com listener and have been for 8 years and have gone through 2 books a month for the entire time. The knowledge that I have gleaned from the books that I consumed has made me better, both personally and professionally. I like audio books because I can listen to them on my way to work and talk about what I learned as soon as I walk through the door. I find that immediately discussing the book with the people I work with helps me remember it.2. Set mini-goals (inch-stones instead of milestones) for personal improvement
It is one thing to set a big goal to improve yourself. (I want to lose 50 pounds over the next year.) It is another thing to actually accomplish it. I like to decide what the major goal is and then split that goal into managable chunks that I actually can accomplish. I like to keep the mini-goals to within the next 30 days. If I cannot accomplish it within that time frame then the goal does not fit my model and needs to be subdivided into different tasks. This enables me to have successes every month and keeps me motivated.3. State your goals in the positive instead of the negative
- A good example of a positive goal would be: "I will read one business article every day."
- The same goal spoken in the negative would be: "I will not miss more than one day of reading."
4. Tell the ones who love you what you want to achieve
People who love you want to see the best for you. Tell them your goals. Please note that I did not say tell your family and friends. You know who loves you and wants to see the best things happen for you in your life and unfortunately its not always who we would expect. Tell those people who you know will encourage you to be your best and achieve more in your life. If they are your family members, that is even better.5. Believe in your goal as though it were
It is ok to say "I am 25 pounds lighter." I did it and lost nearly 40 pounds. I woke up one day and said I feel like crap and I want to feel better. I joined Weight Watchers and stuck with the program for over a year. During that time I lost 40 pounds. That was three years ago and I have only gained 10 pounds back. I saw myself differently and worked to make it a reality.6. Never ever talk down to yourself
I used to look in the mirror and say terrible things about what I saw. The voice in my head would constantly tell me how I wasn't smart enough or handsome enough or rich enough. Now I recognize that I AM ENOUGH. My darling wife posted a great article on vulnerability. It deals with this topic and is definitely worth reading. Do you ever tell yourself that you can't do something? That is the first step to accomplishing nothing. Do not be interested in what you CAN'T do. Focus on what you CAN do. Tell yourself how great you are and what you CAN achieve. Believe in yourself! How do you expect other people to believe in you if you don't believe in you?Some final thoughts
As 2010 rolls out and 2011 comes in, it is important for us to set our sights on the specific things we want to achieve for ourselves next year. These goals should align with your overall plan for personal improvement. The suggestions above are steps that can work to help you along the way. I would love to hear from you about steps that you have taken to continue to move forward from personal and professional standpoint.Please take a moment to comment below.
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