Resolution defined: a firm decision to do or not do something
Goals defined: the object of a person's ambition or effort
Which sounds more attainable to you? Which sounds like something you actually WANT to do? Which has actually worked for people in life?
Know how many people I know who have set their New Year's resolutions and have been successful in them? A whopping ZERO. Sure, we all know people (or have been the people) who say something like their (we're) going to work out 3x per week. And they actually do it for a month or two or four. But do you really know anyone who has actually been successful in their resolution for the year? I sure don't.
I feel like the word "resolution" is a set up. It's a set up to get people excited for starting something new or stopping a bad habit. I don't blame them, as the whole "New Year's Resolution" thing does sound appealing. Who doesn't want a fresh start? Especially after a year or two like we've had.
Not knowing anyone who has been successful in their resolutions, I DO know people who have set goals for the year and achieved them.
While I've had resolutions in the past, as I mentioned above I've never been successful with them. And while I'm ashamed to say that 2021 was the first time I've ever set a year-long goal, I actually achieved my goal.
Ready? Ok.....my goal for 2021?
Run. 100 miles. In a year.
If you're a runner you're seeing that and laughing because you do that in a month or two. If you're a non-runner (aka a normal human) like me you're asking one question: why?
My friend Kristin posted on Facebook a year ago or so that her goal was to run 500 miles in 2021. On purpose. Without anyone/anything chasing her. And despite being an asthmatic who thinks running is stupid but has always been intrigued by the concept I decided to do the same. Or 20% of that, anyway.
And you know what? I did it. I didn't enjoy it, but I did it. And it felt darn good to hit mile 100 just a few days ago. And I'm 100% confident if I had a RESOLUTION to run 100 miles I wouldn't have done it. Why? Cause resolutions suck.
In soccer do they score resolutions? In football do they kick field resolutions? Nope. They score goals and kick field goals.
And in my year-long goal, I learned a few things I'd like to share with you as you set your GOALS for 2022.
1) Make it a goal you'll enjoy working on. For some reason I picked something I hate, just to see if I could do it and learn to like it in the process. While I got 'er done, I didn't enjoy. I sometimes enjoyed it after I was done but mostly it sucked. Pick something that's a challenge but that you'll enjoy doing.
2) Set short term goals to help achieve your long term goal. I knew that in order to hit 100 miles in a year I had to run roughly 8 1/3 miles per month. So that became my short term goal. Little by little I'd run here and there to get to the 8 1/3. Because it all adds up.
3) Don't give up. I was surprisingly on pace then summer hit and two things knocked me off track for a bit. 1) I hurt my foot pretty bad and 2) golf season began. Golf is my favorite hobby in the world so that took precedent. I also had a lingering foot injury that caused me to miss some significant run-time, though luckily I could still golf. And if I'm being honest I got a little lazy too. By the time November 1st rolled around I had just over 40 miles to go. If you're terrible at math that means I had 40% of my goal left with only 2 months to go in the year. But I did it.
4) Celebrate your achievement. Know what my wife did after I hit mile 100? She dumped one of those big jugs of Gatorade on my head like they do when football coaches win big games. OK not really. The fact is I'm terrible at celebrating when I achieve a goal, but I know I need to do it. Just like when guys win a Super Bowl there's the famous line of "I'm going to Disney World!", we need to do something to celebrate.
So there you go. Whether your GOAL is to lose 20 pounds, sell 120% of your sales goal, write that book, launch that podcast, find your purpose (shameless plug for my LifePlan business) - do it. Even if you don't set the goal till February or June or October. Do it.
By the way, your goal doesn't have to be life-changing. It just has to be something.