It’s that time... time for gatherings, family, toasting achievements and aspirations with friends and looking back at the past year to reflect on what you’d like to do differently in the coming year.... Hmm, I’d like to really blog and make videos every week this year. Maybe this year will be different... maybe my time and priorities will just fall into place.... Do you think I can trust to that? Would you sponsor me with that attitude? Would you hire me with that attitude? No, and I’ll tell you why not. I’ve just expressed a WISH, not a resolution or a plan. What’s more, I’ve followed it up with hoping that the winds of fortune just happen to blow in my favor and grant my wish. That’s all very well, but that is not how people realize their dreams.
Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, once said of hard work, “I’m a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.”
People who reach their goals do encounter obstacles on the way, but instead of blaming their mistakes on a shadowy being called “luck,” they carefully examine the causes of each mistake and use what they learn to avoid similar future mistakes.
So, before you start making high flying resolutions for the coming year, take a hard look at your reality and:
First, carefully examine the goals you’re considering
Make a careful and honest estimate of the possibilities of success
Determine if the goal in question is worth your serious efforts, because mark my words, unless you put effort into your wishes, they will just remain wishes.
Then devote yourself completely to the goal, taking even the smallest details into consideration and drawing profit from what experience teaches you -- especially the experience of failing a time or two.
Getting past the notion of “luck” and achieving your dreams is a central theme of some books I wrote a while back, called Can’t...Can! This one is more aimed at succeeding in business, and this one is for those who are trying to focus on fitness, but they both are addressing similar mindset adjustments.
So, while I’m sipping my eggnog and cider this season, I’m not just wishing; I’m making a plan for how to reach my goals -- won’t you join me?
