As we all know, and can’t seem to hide our heads in the sand from it, it’s THAT time of year again…
Time to make our new year resolutions, be good to ourselves this year, but wait, oh yes, we can’t forget the infamous resolution that we all seem to have in common — the one and only –“I’ll lose some weight this year” becomes number one on the list. For me, for many years, it used to be to quit smoking (which I’m proud to say that I’ve been successful in kicking the smoking habit in the butt and it’s now been one year and two months that I’m nicotine free), hence, one of the reasons why I must “lose weight” this year is now on the top of my goal list.
If you’re anything like me, making too large of a resolution becomes muddy and eventually falls off the list and becomes an “incomplete”. We all know that resolutions don’t really seem to stick. You go to the gym that first day, go for a couple of days, then, what happens, we’re bored, tired, don’t have time to work out, etc. So what I’ve been doing these past few years is starting my workouts around Thanksgiving time and really getting my workouts in, steady as she goes. It only takes 21 days to make a habit (good or bad), so by “jump starting” it, I get that big goal accomplished.
One of the things I like to do which I find very helpful, is to instead of just writing down my goals, I write a master list of all that I accomplished this year (the year that’s ending). I write down everything I can think of from the largest to the smallest and even what may be insignificant to others but significant to me. Everything counts here. (I learned this tip either from John Assaraf or Tony Robbins, I can’t recall which one, but both of them are outstanding life coaches.)
Once the list of accomplishments has been completed (which I get pretty excited to see some of the great and fun things that end up on this list) for example, for me this past year, I was published in two books that were released in January 2014, also in January, I taught a class on Makeup for TV, Film & Theater at a prestigious art and design school here in Tampa and 11 months later the director of the department remembered me and referred me for a teaching job at a studio here in Tampa that I just said yes to — not only teaching it, but creating and implementing my very own “Turn on Your Star Power – Branding your Image and Your Business” program (my first of the 9 classes will be taught on January 8th) (this program will also become available online very soon so stay tuned)and there were many more accomplishments that once I started to think about them, I totally forgot I even achieved them. That’s the power of writing them down.
The point I’m trying to make here is that our lives get so frantic and hectic that we can easily forget all the great things that happen to us that year. That’s why I feel writing this “accomplishment list” is so important.
Another great way is to help you stay motivated in accomplishing your goals is to keep a journal. You don’t need to write it in everyday, maybe just the great days and happenings of that year. What I also like to do is paste any and all mementos from all the places I visit, birthday and holiday cards, hand-written notes, even printed emails. I cut match books from restaurants, magazine clippings, what ever ignites my passions and inspire me that day and paste them into the journal so now, it is not only a instrument of writing my thoughts but it also becomes a “visual” history of my life that year. (I got this idea from Peter Beard, a famous fashion photographer who went off to live in Africa and when he opened an art gallery in SoHo in New York City, I was able to see his journals up close and in person, they were astounding and motivated me to do them as well (photo of Peter’s journal below left and one of mine on the right – it was my sister Mary’s 50th birthday and we went to see the Play Proof with Mary Louise Parker in 2000-which was awesome!). Of course, I’m no Peter Beard and although my versions look nothing like his, they are my own creations and I love them. I have been keeping a journal since 1972 (that’s a-lotta paper!!). I figure it this way, one day I might not be able to remember all the fun, sad, exciting and great things I’ve done in my lifetime, and by keeping these journals, the beauty of them is that you’ll always have a way to remember them.
Now, once you have your list of accomplishments written down, next comes time to begin creating the your list of goals for the new year. For me, being able to visually see in black and white, in writing the “accomplished list” I can see where I need to fill in the gaps. It really helps me to understand what’s needed to be added on the new goal list, Sometimes I’ll even note some steps or actions to take next to the goal so that I can start right away and get the ball rolling to help with accomplishing that goal. This “writing them down on paper” really helps us out in a couple of ways:
a) it gives us confidence – we can see the history of some of the great things we’ve already accomplished for ourselves and will give us the extra oomph to keep setting larger goals.
b) it helps give us a sense of purpose, that we’re here on this earth for a reason.
and
c) it puts them all in one place, out of our conscious minds and into our subconscious minds which is where all of the magic begins.
Also, if you make a copy of it, it will allow you to keep it on you, in your purse, at your desk, on the bathroom mirror so that you can see it every day.
I’ve been practicing this “writing of the goals list” since I’m fourteen years old and to this day, I’m still amazed at how many of them get checked off at the end of the year. Another thing I like to do with the printed copy of the goal list is to put the list in an envelope and seal it up. Write on the front of it “do not open until January -date of following year. For example “Do not open until 2016”, keep it in a safe place to review the following new year. I think you might get a kick out of it when you see how many things you have been accomplished when you look at it again 365 days later.
Try it out and let me know how its working for you. If you have any questions or tips you use in planning your goals that you’d like to share with us, I’d love to hear from you. Just comment below and also, please sign up for my tips, tricks and tutorials email list so I can continue to send you some great information to help you out reach your goals (personal and business)this year and for years to come. Happy 2-0-1-5!!!!!
