It was just over a month ago that many of you made your New Years Resolutions. I actually made mine official on January 3rd. How are you doing? If you are like me and millions of others the results are probably a mixed bag. The first month is the hardest.
The function of a resolution is to change habits – get rid of a bad one or develop a good one. The truth is your day is loaded with habits. Without habits you would be making endless paralyzing decisions every hour. You will get further in business and enjoy life if you can program more good habits.
As a salesman working for a marketing company, one of my primary goals is to change the habits of other people. We want them to accept our solutions. The reason marketing companies exist for this function is that it is very difficult to get people to change.
When I set my resolutions up I was mindful that they needed to be challenging, but realistic and, above all, monitored.
You can either take my word for it or you can check my original blog post. Although, I may have been a bit too wordy, I felt the need to explain my reasoning. In the post I mentioned the number of pushups (25) needed to accomplish my goal, that I would take one extra walk per week and how I intend to use my elliptical machine more often. Also, I set two simple (but lately difficult for me to attain) sales effort standards. I included a few vague resolutions such as being mindful of what I eat, respecting others and embracing social media.
To make it more effective I broadcast my resolutions to my social network. In fact, to be honest, over the holidays I had made a decision to get involved with Facebook and with some encouragement from one person in particular I had hit a tipping point. I would actually tie in the vague social media goal to my need to develop some good habits.
My immediate family, quite a part of my extended family, many of the people I work with, friends, and a few people I would like to get to know better, all have access to what I have said. I got one bit of feedback that was very helpful towards achieving one of my goals. The feeling of accomplishment motivates further efforts to improve my habits. I had promised to inform people of my progress (this is part of that process).
Regarding the exercises, after struggling for several years, I have already achieved 25 pushups in one set and now feel I can go much higher. I did my three walks a week, but feel it is not enough. I have put in some time on the elliptical and am gradually working up to more total time. On the work front I have achieved both of the goals a few times, but am nowhere near the average I wanted. Apart from a three-day phone problem the main cause is the winding down of two projects, but shortly two bigger projects will start. I hope my habits are developing in the right direction.
I did a little research to try to figure out how I could “trick” myself into actually doing all these commendable things. You learn things in the strangest places. During the Vietnam War, a major problem was drug addiction and the government tried to tackle it in different ways. The most successful method was to deal with the addicted soldier while still in Vietnam, just before going home, as opposed to those treated just after reaching America. The key was a change in environment. Click Here to read more about it.
It is very difficult to change a habit on your own. Reminders and incentives help, but if you are the only one aware they will gradually lose their power. Social media offers an opportunity to turn peer pressure into habit changing.
You can actually make resolutions any time you want. I am upping my resolution to 50 consecutive pushups and 50 consecutive sit-ups. Go ahead; pick one thing you would like to change, and really think about it.
