When the resolutions are done, what comes next? What have you set as goals for yourself? It’s easy to set goals for a business. The business is “out there” and you can detach enough from it to create business goals and action plans. You know that without some concrete steps, your wishes for the business will stay as wishes and not results.
Your resolutions are just wishes if you don’t set goals. You know how to set SMART goals for your business. Set SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) goals for yourself. If you’ve not set SMART goals for yourself, send a quick email to neil@thecoachtoolkit.com and I’ll send you a one page worksheet I use with several coaching clients. Change your resolutions to SMART goals. That will let you know how well you are doing at staying on track.
You Can’t Trust Yourself. Accountability is a great word for what is often missing. A useful synonym is “answerability.” When we set personal goals we are answerable, responsible, liable, and get the eventual credit/blame. The problem is that we are terrible accountability partners. We find ways to rationalize our behaviors to allow a little cheating. We think our way through to forgiving ourselves for giving in because we can always make it up later. One of the most important things that a coach can do is to hold you accountable. While you don’t need a coach, you do need an accountability partner. Don’t trust yourself. Find someone to periodically check on your progress. You are still accountable for the goal, but when you talk with another person, rationalizations start to sound a little silly when they come out of your mouth.
Celebrate Your Successes. If your resolutions become meaningful goals, they are not something easy. Changing your resolutions to SMART goals give you some opportunities to celebrate the small successes along the way. Lock in your wins so you will do them again. Taking some time to celebrate your successes also lets you correct your course. You are responsible for achieving the goal. Let your methods change as you learn along the way.
What do you do to make your resolutions into real activities?
About the Author: Neil Phillips is a founding partner of Team Connections and Director of the DSWA Coach Excellence program. Get more from Neil on his Direct Selling Notebook , the DSWA Coaching Center and Twitter.
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As a recovering rationalizer I totally agree with needing someone to be accountable to! Everytime I step away from having a coach, I see my production drop. The benefit to having that coach goes beyond the accountability, to the income I am able to generate because of being held accountable.
Goal setting really is a simple process when you use the SMART system.