Three months on - did you stick to your resolutions?
Did you pledge to get fit and lose weight after the festive excesses or even give up drinking after visiting the recycling centre and dropping off those wine bottles?
Personally, I am no fan of New Year’s resolutions, as statistically not many of us stick to them. A recent study from the University of Bristol found that 88 [er cent of people who make their pledges as the first of January approaches fail to be successful.
While research by private health company Bupa was even more damning, and found nearly half of Brits (43 per cent) lasted less than a month, and 66 per cent lasted two months or less.
Staggeringly, 80 per cent of people didn't make it to the end of March before going back to their old ways.
This is why I don’t set resolutions, as we see most fail and most very quickly. But I am a believer in the power of goals and preparing for the future, while harnessing simple techniques to ensure your dreams succeed.
Here are nine techniques I would recommend every individual and indeed business adopts to achieve their goals for the rest of this year - and beyond.
1. Be your very own Nostradamus
Knowledge is power when it comes to planning for your future. Two important steps need to be taken and understood. The first is to know where you are so you have a benchmark from which to move forward for.
Then, it’s about harnessing your inner Nostradamus to see what the future could bring and how you could adapt to meet it or embrace the opportunities available.
When you step back and look at how our world will evolve, then all sorts of possibilities will arise. It is then up to you which you wish to pursue and those you choose to ignore.
2. See what others can’t yet and go for it
Success in life or business is about solving problems and sticking to a plan. Yes many of us have ideas for success but how many of us have fallen by the wayside as day to day events impact upon us and drive us off course?
If you have an idea and see how it can be implemented write your plan and stay focussed before someone else makes your idea their reality.
3. Don’t go into battle blind
Would you go on holiday without researching your destination? Would you buy a new PC without working out what you need it for? So why do so many businesses trade without an action plan for their future and why do so many of us go through life without setting goals?
