Don’t Be the Fruit fly: Rock Your Resolutions! {Part 1 of 2}

The fresh, exciting NEW-ness of a shiny year is here. Our annual tradition is to make one or several Resolutions—a commitment to do, change, stop or achieve something in this New Year.

Making resolutions is the fun, exciting part of visualizing our business (or personal and professional) future and success.

However, I don’t want to poop on your party almost into the year, but you know most Resolutions die a quick and sad death—like a fruit fly circling a banana.

WHY? Well there are many reasons, but you can break it down into two main reasons most resolutions fail:

1) You make the wrong resolution
2) You don’t build a strategy to execute

Reaching those resolutions or goals depends on a focused, diligent plan for execution and accountability. Be Accountable to the Plan, not the Results.

Setting the Right Goal—your best shot at reaching your resolution:

Make it Measurable—Quantifiable goals include shipping deadlines and sales volume, number of orders, customers, and benchmarks. If you can’t measure it, your goal isn’t specific enough.

Make it Achievable—Ground your goals in the basis of reality. Where have you been, what’s been your pace? Be aggressive but also conservative to give yourself a shot at winning. Being conservative doesn’t mean you don’t Swing for the Fences – it means you calculate which pitch you go for and apply your resources and expertise to those pitches.

Make it Relevant—Create a goal for where you want to be based on where you are now. For an author, the goal might be to book 10 paid speaking gigs based on a new book. Writing and publishing the book has to be the first goal.

Make it Rabbit Hole-Resistant—A goal can be measurable, achievable and relevant but still send lead you nowhere. Let’s say your (measurable, achievable, relevant) goal is to sign up 10,000 new registered users to your website in the first 90 days. But what if 10,000 people register, visit once and never return? That’s a rabbit hole. Make sure your goal encompasses all the factors that will make your business or resolution/goal viable.

Think through your Resolutions. How are they measuring up so far?

Next week: Part 2, Executing.

Until next time, stop hoping, start SELLING!

-sks