Do New Year's resolutions really work? The short answer is yes. But, you don't believe that, do you? You cannot imagine how many times I have heard people declare that New Year's resolutions never work. By the way, these are the same people that swear diets don't work, good things only happen to rich people, or their new golf club is the reason for their bad swing. I have even heard people say that motivational speakers probably don't live their own advice, so why should they. Enough with the "it's not my fault" game.
Maybe we've become conditioned. Like Pavlov's dog salivating at the sound of a bell, our eyes begin to glaze over and our senses begin to dull when we hear someone talking about setting a New Year's resolution. That's a problem because setting a New Year's resolution is invaluable when it comes to success. For those who believe, that is.
The keys to making a New Year's resolution work. First, you need to understand that a resolution is the process of resolving something such as a problem or dispute. Whatever your New Year's resolution is, you must view it as already resolved. You're not naming the problem (overweight) as your resolution, you're declaring the outcome (size 9, fit and trim, whatever) as your resolution. When you think of an outcome, you're more likely to think of a picture set in the future. The power of thinking of an outcome is that as you can bring clarity to the picture, you can involve all of your sensory perceptions. You can see it, hear it, and even feel it. The whole concept behind developing outcomes rather than goals is to make your desired objective something that is such a part of you that you don't have to think about it. Do you think about breathing? No. Do you think about tying your shoes? No. Those actions come naturally. In the same sense, the intent of becoming outcome-oriented rather than goal-oriented is to create a picture that involves so many of your senses and is so deeply felt, that working toward the realization of it is as natural as can be -- it is effortless and done without even thinking about it. Goals you have to think about. Outcomes are part of you.
The Three-Step New Year's Resolutions Writing Process
1. Articulate Your Outcomes: Write it down. "I want to be fit and trim."
2. Affirm Your Outcomes: Write affirmations in present-terms. "I have a great time working out four times a week and as a result I have a fit and trim body."
3. Add sensory perceptions: Visualize your outcomes.
The Three-Steps Expanded
1. Write down outcomes in the major areas of your life that you want to see changed or resolved.
2. For now, don't worry about the "how to" or making your outcomes SMART. Use generalities.
3. Using your sensory perceptions, create the picture of your outcome in your mind.
4. Write down what you see.
5. Add accountability. What specific actions are required?
6. Refine and change the actions you are taking to realize your outcome, as needed.
7. Refine and edit your outcome based upon the changing pictures in your mind's eye.
The final key is the most important. In my book Power to Change, I address the power your self-talk has on achieving your resolutions and goals. You can download theself-talk chapter by clicking here now. Self-talk is the key to successful New Year's resolutions. You must have positive self-talk if you expect your resolutions to become a positive reality. STOP TELLING EVERYONE THAT NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS DON'T WORK. This is a critical choice: go for the positive reality or doom your chances with negative self-talk. For resolutions to work, you need to make a choice right now by what you say to yourself and those around you. If you don't want to do the New Year's resolutions, then just shut up and be fat or broke. What do you really want? There are only two places you can be in life: You are either getting the results you desire or you have reasons why you're not. You are right in both cases.
Learn more about top motivational speaker & coach, Jim Jackson.
I was in Baltimore, Maryland last month working with a client, when he asked me why he couldn't get at least 90 percent performance from his people. I asked him why he would allow only 90 percent to be good enough to take care of his customers, his most valuable asset. The look on his face was like I had just told him he had cancer. He asked me to explain my "rude" remark.
If 99.9 percent was good enough, 12 newborns would be given to the wrong parents daily. At least 114,500 mismatched pairs of shoes would be shipped each year. On average, two planes loaded with passengers would attempt an unsafe landing at Chicago's O'Hare airport every day. Over 300 entries in the Webster's Dictionary would be misspelled, and 291 pacemaker operations would be performed incorrectly during the year. That is what 99.9 percent looks like. Think of how many customers would leave your business with the wrong information about your standards of excellence if 90 percent is all you want. Not the best way to become a multi-billion dollar business.
There are businesses and people who perform at 100 percent every day. For example, last year my wife had heart surgery at the Stanford Medical Center. (You can read about the Ulimate Customer Srvice here ) Our experience at the Stanford Medical Center was positive and successful thanks to the staff and medical personnel - their skill, medical care, and personal attention far exceeded our expectations. I also just recently had the privilege of playing golf at the famous Pebble Beach. This is not an easy place to get on to play; in fact, you must stay in their lodge and make your reservations far in advance. The cost is $495 per person to play one of the top courses in the world. By the way, I was the guest of my good friend Kevin Rude who is great example of customer service leadership for Brothers Power Sports was celebrating his 50th
birthday. The service in the lodge and on the entire property was extraordinary. But, more than that, it seemed to be normal behavior for them. They always addressed me as "Mr. Jackson" and each time they said my name, it was as though they were honored to have the privilege. Everyone working - from the gift shops to the club house, from the grounds-keepers on the pristine courses to the waitresses in the café - conducted themselves at the 100 percent standard.
As I was playing golf, I was thinking about my Baltimore client. What was he missing? What did Stanford Medical Center and Pebble Beach have that he didn't? While walking around the most beautiful 18 holes of golf in the world that I have ever played, I was finally able to sum it up in one word: Confidence. Pebble Beach is known to be the best and each staff member there takes pride in his or her ability and to handle their responsibilities at the highest (100 percent) level. They are confident they are the best in the world at what they do. They are confident that their teammates will uphold the 100 percent standard 100 percent of the time - not 99.9 percent of the time. They are confident that when you leave Pebble Beach, you will remark with enthusiasm and confidence that your expectations were exceeded that day; and you most certainly will come back to experience their confidence in customer service again. Confidence comes from expecting and being the best.
Back to my Baltimore client's question: How to get 100 percent out of your team?
There are three keys to cultivating and maintaining confidence in your team:
1. As a leader, you must hire the best people available and you must treat them as though they are the best in the world. When leaders treat their people the way they want their customers treated, you get confidence and confidence spreads. If you have people who are not best in class, then you have three choices. First, you can do nothing. If you choose this option read no further, just shut up and accept that you are mediocre. Oh, and pray you are not on one of those planes landing unsafely at O'Hare. Second is to communicate your expectation to your people and then train, train and train some more until your expectation becomes the norm. The third option is to terminate and find a better replacement and, in this economy, that should be easy. No excuses.
2. Treat each customer as if he or she were a Head of State. If the Queen of England or the President of the United States walked into you business, wouldn't you roll out the red carpet? If you argue that you can't be expected to do that every time, then I guess you will not be in the same winner's league as Pebble Beach.
3. Model an excellent example that deserves to be imitated. As the leader, you model the way to find the positives in your business, market, products, locations and even the weather. Leaders who believe that now is the best time to succeed will ultimately be called the exception to the rule. Pebble Beach was sold out on a cold and rainy Monday in December with the wind blowing 20-30 miles an hour. You, as a leader, expect and demonstrate a 100-percent success rate no matter what the conditions.
Now I ask you, how is your confidence? Are you waiting for the government to fix things? Are you looking for the magic dust that makes everything a 100 percent success? Or, will you be confident when go to sleep tonight, that this day you gave 100 percent in all that you did. Confidence is knowing that your team is the best, your product is the best, and on this day that the Lord has given you, you gave it 100 percent.
Many who read this article ponder what they might do differently to give 100 percent and ultimately justify all the reasons why it can't happen. Then there are those who will read this and know they are a leader of, or a part of, an elite group who are confident and live their life at 100 percent. The biggest tragedy is to have missed your goal by one tenth of one percent because you only gave 99.9 percent of yourself. Which are you? Tell me please.
Discover the secrets to leadership confidence with Jim Jackson's Leadership program.