1 min readResolutions and Goals

by Guy Gage | February 1, 2010 | Uncategorized

At the New Year, people make their annual New Year’s Resolutions that are almost always never kept. The more seasoned (jaded?) people have learned that resolutions are futile because they know they won’t keep them and in the end, feel guilty for failing. Unfortunately, they also forego setting goals as well, which are very different from resolutions.

Resolutions are usually activities: eat healthier, exercise more, be in contact with clients more regularly, market your services more, spend more time mentoring younger staff, bill your time and collect more timely, etc.

The problem is that your commitment to activities is all about pushing yourself. You have to make yourself do the activity based on your intentions alone. While there is fleeting satisfaction in crossing something off your daily list, it has no endurance over time.

Putting targets on your resolutions helps some, but won’t make them powerful goals. Go to the gym three days a week, spend an extra hour with staff or send bills by the 15th of the month aren’t goals—they simply measure whether you completed your activities.

Your commitment to goals, on the other hand, has more staying power because they give the reason to get up early to hit the gym or to spend more time marketing your services. If your activities are directly related to goals you want to achieve, you have a higher likelihood of following through. Goals give you the added motivation, or pull, to do what you know you should do.

Don’t make resolutions this New Year. Instead, set goals that add value to your firm and clients, advance your career, and most importantly, provide you the personal satisfaction of being a professional.

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