January is a magical time, spurring us to make resolutions and alter our lives. But change won’t last unless you set goals you can achieve with a strategy that actually works.
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It’s a brand new year, and it’s early January, so I’m still scratching through the “5” and replacing it with a “6” when I write the date.
That part of a new year is pretty annoying, but in a few weeks, it will improve and I can get back to all the other changes staring me in the face!
Speaking of change…
Sometimes changes are our choice and sometimes they are thrust upon us, with little to no warning.
Those changes might be in your relationships, marital status, health, job or even becoming a parent for the first time.
As Heraclitus, the ancient philosopher told us, “The only thing that is constant it change.”
For a guy from 476 BC, he really knew what he was talking about!
When we think about beginning a brand new year and all the opportunities that present themselves, it seems that January tends to bring out the hopefulness in people.
Hopefulness that maybe this year will be better than last year; hopefulness that their life will be more fulfilling, happier and peaceful; hopefulness to be a better husband, dad, son or partner.
It seems that January has the magical superpowers to transform mere mortals into superheroes capable of achieving lofty goals, making resolutions to start this or stop that, or even finally clean out the garage.
January brings out the motivation in most people to get healthier, eat more nutritiously, exercise more, or perhaps stop an unhealthy habit.
Sometimes, that hopefulness can turn into a wall of despair, rising up to taunt us when we realize that we have to actually “do” something different if we are going to make any changes.
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Consider this…
There were five frogs sitting on a log. Four of them decided to jump off. How many were left?
The Answer:
Five.
Deciding is not the same as doing. We have to DO something different if we want a different result!
So, at the start of this new year, in an effort to look change squarely in the eye, I wanted to not just decide to do something different, but to actually do something different.
If you’re facing some pretty significant changes in your life right now, like the ones I mentioned earlier, I’d like to share this strategy with you to help take you from decision to real action.
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Here’s the strategy.
I took the suggestion of a trusted mentor and picked one word that I want to focus on for 2016.
The purpose of this one word is to serve as a point of focus for navigating the changes in my life. It was really a much more difficult undertaking than I first thought it would be. I kept thinking, There really shouldn’t be anything hard about picking just one word!
But I found myself struggling to settle on what I wanted that word to be. After all, I have to spend an entire year with that word.
It needed to have special meaning and importance to me, right now, for this time in my life and in this year ahead. It needed to be the word that was my mantra for the changes that were ahead.
I jotted down a few words that came to my mind fairly quickly, then scratched through each one.
None of them seemed to be that “right” one word that resonated with me and was powerful enough for me to focus on for an entire year of my life.
For the next couple of days, every time my thoughts drifted to this decision, I kept having this one word come to mind over and over.
It’s a word that I sometimes loathe.
Not because it’s profanity or even that it’s considered to be a negative word.
It’s because it’s a word that tends to immediately cause me to self-judge.
That word is consistency.
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I knew immediately it was the one word I needed for this year. With so many changes to maneuver through, I instinctively knew that consistency was going to be my greatest asset.
In John Maxwell’s book, The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, John says that the secret to his success is not what you might think.
He reveals the secret is consistency.
That means day after day, week after week, year after year consistently going about doing what you’ve committed to do or not do.
Therein lies the secret to my success for the changes in my life this year.
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A few months ago, I joined a fitness group that includes a challenge and accountability component. The purpose of this challenge group is to hold you accountable to your health and fitness goals, your daily workout times and to also encourage you to be consistent in working on the commitments you have made.
I started with the challenge group and I can tell you that accountability has a direct correlation to consistency!
I’ve been much more faithful in my workouts, healthy eating habits and even sharing my progress on a closed social media page than I have been in the past when I had no external accountability.
I now believe the fitness goals I have set are really within my reach.
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And it all depends on my consistency.
No silver bullet, no secret sauce, just one day at a time, every day, being consistent in what I do.
It’s pretty normal at the beginning of a new year to hear people talking about their resolutions, what they are going to start or stop doing.
But unless some intentional action is tied to those resolutions, it’s doubtful they will last beyond a few weeks.
I’m reminded of a James Allen quote, “People are anxious to improve their circumstances but are unwilling to improve themselves. They therefore remain bound.”
So whether the changes you are facing in this new year are by your choice or by circumstances beyond your control, I want to encourage you to use this “pick a word” for the year strategy.
Take a few minutes to give some thought to what your greatest changes and challenges are going to be this year. Think about the one thing you need to succeed that can become your reminder word.
It may take a few tries, like it did with me, but the right word will come to you and fit your life and the changes you are facing.
Once you have your word to focus on for this year, keep it in a highly visible place you will see every day. Maybe a bathroom mirror, your computer monitor or car dashboard.
When you see that word every day, it serves as a reminder your changes are here to stay, but this time…you’re ready for them.
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