Celebrate and Achieve

Giving yourself credit and thinking positively are the first steps to having a great year.

By Robert A. Arzt, CLU, ChFC, LLIF

It’s that time again when we review what we’ve accomplished during the past year and set some new goals for the new year. Each of us reacts differently to this process. When you turned the page in your appointment planner from Dec. 31 to Jan. 1, did you suffer from the calendar blues? Were you excited or apprehensive? How about fearful or hopeful?

Let’s look at the challenging process of setting new goals.

Goals are not a to-do list.
When setting goals, keep in mind that they are not a to-do list! Goals must be relevant and meaningful to you. Each activity on your “real” to-do list must support getting you closer to the attainment of one or more of your goals. Always keeping the bigger picture in mind is a powerful motivator.

Whether you attained your goals or not, focus on the positive. Before you set new goals this year, review what you accomplished last year. This applies to everything you feel happy or proud about. Perhaps you participated in a volunteer activity that made a difference, learned a new skill, read a book that you’ve been meaning to get to or devoted more time to family and friends.

I don’t know what it is about human nature, but we can succeed at 100 things, and yet we focus on the one activity, event, missed opportunity or mistake we made. Negative thinking is very destructive and will serve to inhibit your future happiness and success.

Give yourself credit for what you feel proud about.
Keep a “Success Journal.” Think back to your earliest childhood memory and write down all of those things you were proud of doing or accomplishing. Big or small—it doesn’t matter—just write them down. Continue remembering accomplishments that you achieved right up to the present. Then, on a daily or weekly basis, reflect upon that past time period and continue to add new items to your journal. Develop the capacity to relive your successes, not your disappointments.

Which are best, short-term or long-term goals?
While both short- and long-term goals are important, I lean towards setting more short-term goals.

Short-term goals allow more frequent opportunities for wins, feedback, course correction and positive reinforcement. Short-term goals keep your momentum moving forward. Regardless of the types of goals you set, be sure to reward yourself when you accomplish a goal. In addition, continue to set new goals. By doing so, you won’t experience the calendar blues, or at least you’ll reduce their impact. Keep in mind that goals are not an end in and of themselves; they merely serve as a means to an end.

Attitude and goals
Earl Nightingale has been quoted as saying, “You become what you think about most of the time.”

Your brain acts as a marvelous nonjudgmental computer. It hears the input you feed to it and says, “OK, if that’s what you want, we’ll make it happen.” That’s why writing positive affirmations and repeating them daily, and surrounding yourself with positive, encouraging people is so important.

In a goals course I teach called Managing Goal Achievement, we practice the “possibility thinking” formula. It’s a simple, four-step process that focuses our attention on the most positive outcome we could experience. The last step of the process is to write a list of activities you can do to make sure this positive outcome actually happens. This simple formula dramatically increases your chances for success.

Dr. Wayne Dyer confirms this approach in his book, The Power of Intention. He states that to realize your desires, match them with your inner speech or self-talk. You need to keep all of your inner talk focused on good reports and good results, he says, and if there is a conflict between your desires and your inner talk, your inner talk will prevail.

Following through
As you begin this new year, here are some suggestions to help you follow through on your goals.

• Imagine how success will make you feel.
• Revise, fine tune or recycle your goals as necessary. They’re not locked in concrete.
• Repeat goal affirmations daily.
• Visualize the success of achieving your goals.
• Celebrate victories, no matter how big or small they may be.
• Organize your day for maximum efficiency and effectiveness based upon your natural style.
• Ask yourself each day, “What can I do today to get one step closer to attaining my goal?”

Good luck to you on your journey to success and the achievement of your goals and dreams.

Robert A. Arzt, CLU, ChFC, LLIF, is CEO of Polaris One. He partners with professionals to help them achieve their personal and business goals. Contact him at 301-610-5624, bob@bobarzt.com or through his website at www.PolarisOne.com.