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A new year is upon us and you are at the beginning of a new chapter in your own life. I wanted to take this time to share with you seven resolutions that will help you take your entire life to a much higher level and truly honor the potential you were blessed with at birth. While this quest is, no doubt, a lifelong pursuit, it must start today with just one person-with you-as you take action on the ideas that I present here. By changing your choices, you will change your life. Your future, however, does not improve tomorrow. I have observed that the unhappiest people in the world seem to talk the most about what they intend to do tomorrow. This mind-set is not for you! Your future gets better now. Tomorrow changes today! Lets get started:
Resolution 1: Choose Success Success is not an accident! This is, without a doubt the single most important lesson you must grasp if you want to maximize your full potential and enjoy the fulfillment and success you were designed to enjoy in the year to come and the lifetime that will follow. Success occurs in the lives of specific people for specific reasons. It is not something that randomly happens to you; it is something that you make happen. This is exciting news! Whether you want to strengthen your family life, improve your career, deepen your faith, or take your physical energy to a whole new level, you can do it.
Do you fully understand the connection between your choices and the life you are living today? Do you believe that God wants you to succeed? Write down your personal definitions of success and mediocrity and start choosing success.
Resolution 2: Decide Who You Want to Become If you want your purpose in life to become a magnificent obsession, you must develop and constantly review your personal mission statement. A personal mission statement is a written articulation of your God-given potential-as God sees it. It expresses your unique purpose for living. Your personal mission statement encourages you to change in a deliberate, preconceived direction. The process of constructing the statement forces you to think seriously about the vital areas of your life and to clarify your long-term direction.
Have you given much thought to how the world could be different because of your particular life? Do you believe God had one specific thing in mind when he made you? Write your personal mission statement today so that you can achieve joy in 2008.
Resolution 3: Write Down Compelling Goals The very act of writing down and setting magnificent goals unlocks your creative powers, and the act of writing your goals is completely under your control. If you do not have specific measurable goals written down for each area of your life, and a plan for their accomplishment, then the odds are that success for you will be an accident. Cause and effect in your life will be unclear. Your future will be unpredictable, and your capacity to have an impact on the world with your unique talents and gifts will be severely diminished. You will passively accept a life by default rather than assertively choosing a life by design. This approach is not for you.
Brainstorm 150 life goals and put them down in writing. What are your top five goals right now? Act on them!
Resolution 4: Invest Your Time Wisely You can't make more time, only better choices. It has been said that four simple words characterize mediocrity most accurately: "I didn't have time." Neither you nor anyone else could have a more damaging excuse concerning success. When you tell someone that you didn't have time, you simply reinforce their perception of you as someone who can't be relied upon to get the job done. And when you tell yourself that you didn't have enough time, you undermine your inner credibility and fortify a self-image of underachievement and irresponsibility.
Do you sense that you are spending or investing most of your time? Calculate the cost of misusing just fifteen minutes a day over one year. Keep a record or time log to specifically track how you use your time. Commit today to investing your time wisely rather than wasting it.
Resolution 5: Get Out of Your Own Way Whatever you direct your mind to think about will ultimately be revealed for everyone to see. Among the most powerful influences on your character, personality, and attitude is what you say to yourself and believe. During every single moment of every day, you are talking yourself either into or out of success. By talking yourself into success, I mean talking yourself into being the champion God designed you to become. With every thought that races through your mind, you are constantly redefining yourself and your future. Your inner dialogue, or self-talk, can and must be effectively harnessed if you are to maximize your full potential.
Do you talk more about what you want or what you do not want? Make a conscious effort to align your self-talk with the person you are striving to become.
Resolution 6: Practice Positive Visualization "I visualized where I wanted to be, what kind of player I wanted to become. I knew exactly where I wanted to go, and I focused on getting there." -Michael Jordan
A subconscious programming technique even more powerful than positive self-talk is positive visualization - mentally picturing events or outcomes in your mind before they occur in physical reality. Positive results follow positive mental pictures.
Develop a visualization script for at least one of your most important goals. Start to surround yourself with visual reminders of your goals. You will be amazed by how visual images of victory and success help tame doubts, fears, and insecurities.
Resolution 7: Begin to Live a Maximum-Energy Lifestyle Boundless energy is not an accident. Individuals who experience a continuous, revitalizing flow of energy make different choices than those who consistently operate from an energy deficit. You can increase your return on energy and your return on life by becoming highly sensitive to the lifestyle choices you make.
Think about how long you would like to live healthfully and productively. Consider what current lifestyle choices do not support that longevity goal and begin to change those habits. Develop an effective system to manage stress.
Success Is Not an Accident Remember that Success Is Not an Accident. The size of your thinking determines the size of the result. If you want 2008 to be your best year ever, THINK HUGE!
TOMMY NEWBERRY is the author of several books, including the New York Times Bestseller, The 4:8 Principle: The Secret to a Joy-Filled Life and the highly popular, Success is Not an Accident. He is the founder and head coach of The 1% Club, an organization dedicated to helping entrepreneurs and their families maximize their full potential.
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