As we know, January and the New Year are now well underway. It is time to ensure that this year is different from the last. This will mean firing some of our well-protected excuses.
Celebrate Thursday, January 14th, the Fourth Annual National Fire Your Excuses Day, by Taking Action!
Are you in? Then, here’s your challenge:
Six Actions To Make 2016 Different From Any Other (And Why Most People
Will Not Take Them.)
Celebrate National Fire Your Excuses Day
by committing to one or more of the following actions this beginning this Thursday.
1. Plan…write out your 2016 goals. If you do this alone, your chances of success are 17% according to the classic Dominican University study on goal setting. It is an essential first step but it is not enough. Most people become discouraged by their repeated goal setting failures {due to not having a support team} and, eventually, stop writing down their yearly goals. But this is a mistake- just 4% of those who keep their goals in their head but don’t commit them to them by writing them down will accomplish them by year’s end.-University of Scranton study. Writing down your goals quadruples your chances of success! Joining a support team quadruples your success again!
2. Connect…join one group this year that will help you succeed. The Dominican University study reported that those who share their written goals consistently with an accountability group or partner raise their chances of accomplishing their goals to 74%. Not taking this additional action is why nearly all of even those who have written goals fail to achieve them.
3. Commit…to a One-Hour Weekly Personal Business Meeting. Over the past five years, in polling our seminar audiences, we have noted that less than 5% of all professionals have any type of weekly personal business meeting where they review not only work projects but personal goals and weekly tasks. Those who do are all extremely efficient in their use of time and successful personally as well as at work. By the way, nearly all millionaire business leaders we polled practice the discipline of a weekly personal business meeting. Hmmm.
4. Move…We are all busy but if there is time for streaming, video and T.V., there is time for exercise. Regain your desired health and fitness levels in 2016 by sticking to this “hard and fast” rule–no after-work media watching before exercise. Your goal: Twenty 30-minute workouts each month. Join us!
5. Learn…what skill is separating you from your dream? Forgive us. We do not wish to brag but to make a strong point: Why do we enjoy the opportunity consult and speak for more in a day than we used to make in a week? It’s not that we are smarter than everyone else, it is that we are intense, life-long learners. You can be too! Bottom line: We outread and outlearn our peers. Here’s your challenge: Read or listen to a book every two weeks and join a group that requires a high commitment to excellence and growth.
6. Serve…Be deliberate about reaching out to your family, friends and network every work day. Think about taking small but consistent actions in this area. A little effort will result in a tremendous impact by the end of the year. Example: By reaching out to just one person each work day, you will touch the lives of 200 people in 2016.