[This is part of the Starting 2011 Off Right series for the rest of the series click here]

So, you want to set goals instead of reso­lu­tions. You have taken time to look back on the year and think about where you succeeded and where you failed. Good job! Now is the time to set some goals.

Is this your goal list?

You should know going in that you will fail at some of these goals. Even the best goal setter accom­plishes only about 80% of the goals she sets out at the beginning of the year. Prior­i­ties change, life happens, etc. However, if you refuse to set goals, the 80% will never happen.

Also, setting goals is a pain. It will take a toll on your emotions and force you to think through things you normally assume will work out on their own. But it is always worth it.

As a helpful tool you should check out Chris Gullebeau’s book, “The Art of Non-Conformity”. It will get you in the right mindset for goal setting and remind you that life change is possible. If you would rather not pay for a book, check out Chris’ website chrisguillebeau.com. His website was the first place I heard about Conducting An Annual Review. Chris’ blog inspired me to Start 2011 Off Right. I even used his Annual Review Template to create this year’s goals. Continue Reading…

[This is part two of the Starting 2011 Off Right series to see the rest click here]

Every year from November 1^st to the 15^th I look back on the year I am in and plan for the year ahead. My reason for the November 15^th deadline is it frees me up to focus on friends and family during the Thanks­giving and Christmas season. In the future I will blog this live, but since it is too late for that I will let you in on my process now!

To start off, I got this idea from a combi­na­tion of Dan Miller’s “No More Mondays” and Chris Guillebeau’s “The Art of Non-Conformity”. I will write more about them later, but until then you can click on their names to go directly to two short books that changed my life.

What does it mean to look back?

Be honest, 2010 did not turn out how you expected. When the year began you had hopes, dreams, and ideas that were dashed across the rocks of reality (probably by Valentine’s Day). But even amidst such failure, you found yourself accom­plishing wonderful things you never expected. This is what looking back is for. First I look back at the things I achieved over the year. Some of these may seem small, but every victory is worth taking note of. Continue Reading…

[This is part of the Starting 2011 Off Right series]

She wakes up two hours earlier than she normally would. The alarm is screaming and her body is begging for those two hours. She pulls herself out of bed and grabs what she needs: a pair of shorts, a gray t-shirt, comfort­able (but old) socks, some sneakers, and a towel. It is January 3^rd and she is on her way to the gym for the first time in almost a year.

Does the word reso­lu­tion make your skin crawl? It does for me. I get the image of men and women greedily mobbing over­priced gyms to sign up for member­ships they will never use. If that hits too close to home you may want to recon­sider that gym member­ship you have been mulling over.

History shows that most New Year’s reso­lu­tions will be dropped by Valentine’s Day. In about a month, most of us will give up whatever dream we had for 2011. Why? Because reso­lu­tions are dreams, not goals. Continue Reading…

Have you decided what you want to accom­plish in 2011? A new decade has started, are you ready for it? You may have a good idea of where your paychecks will come from; you may know where you are going on your next vacation; you may even know what you want to be at the end of the year, but do you know what you want to do?

What I mean is how are you going to get there? Even if by some miracle you have a few vague 2011 goals do you have any clue how you are going to accom­plish them? A year is shorter then you think and before you know it December 31^st will be here and you won’t be any closer to your goals then when the ball dropped for 2011. Are you who you wanted to be when 2010 began? Continue Reading…

The hardest part of doing anything is taking the first step. Starting something new scares me. When you or I actually take a step to start something an icy cold hand grips our heart. It grips mine anyway. It reaches inside of me and wraps itself around my greatest hope and does every­thing in its power to stop me.

I can’t get too mad at fear, I encourage it every step of the way: I justify my fear, I tell myself it doesn’t matter or that someone else is already doing what I want to do. I am probably not that good anyway. And it would be hard; I don’t have time for something that difficult when medi­oc­rity is so easy! Continue Reading…