The beginning of a new year is about to arrive, and with it, that moment that we all wait for: that of formulating resolutions that allow us to improve in various areas of our lives.
But, to be honest, are these resolutions really important? Don’t you feel that every year you propose things that you completely forgot by January 5?
A somewhat cynical air circulates in social networks. What I read is not enthusiastic or optimistic comments, but negative messages, in the style of “If you always break your resolutions, why bother doing them this year?” or even demotivational messages: “Your New Year’s resolutions won’t even last 5 days.”
Surely we all identify with some of these negative messages, and we may even have lost the motivation to try again.
Who has not broken a New Year’s resolution?
If in previous years we have not been able to fulfill them, is it worth doing them for this coming year?
The answer is a big and resounding YES!
The beginning of a year is a great time to write a new chapter.
When we were at school, each semester was a great opportunity to start from scratch: new teachers, new subjects, in short: a clean start that opened up a whole horizon of opportunities for us to achieve what we had not achieved in other semesters.
However, now that we are entrepreneurs, it is difficult to have these types of breaks, those moments in which we can make “new paragraph” and start from scratch.
The new year is important because it gives us this space, a moment in which we can evaluate a defined period of time, take what we did well and readjust the route to achieve what we did not achieve or even go further. These “new chapters” allow us to look ahead.
If you are an entrepreneur, in the New Year you will not be starting from scratch; You will surely continue working on your project. This is a great time for get rid of everything that stopped you last year and start off strong.
No matter how many times you have failed, you can always try again.
So what if the last 3 (or 30) years you didn’t keep your New Year’s resolutions?
Haven’t we learned that one of the greatest lessons about entrepreneurship tells us that, no matter how much we fail, the important thing is to learn and get back up?
It is key that this learning does not remain in the speech , but in truth we live it every day. If we believe it, we can say at the top of our lungs: “It doesn’t matter that I didn’t achieve it before, come with everything, 2016!”.
We always have to aspire to surpass ourselves
This is a key point that, in my opinion, every entrepreneur should have tattooed in their DNA. We can always, ALWAYS take a step forward; we can (and should) always aim to go a little further.
Were there things you didn’t accomplish last year? Forget it! The year ended and we are in a new beginning where you can try again .
Did you have a great year? Cool! Now is the time to aim higher and give 110 percent.
Ok, you convinced me, but how do I achieve my goals?
Now yes, I am ready to face this new year with everything I have. What do I do to avoid repeating the history of previous years?
As good entrepreneurs, we will not face New Year’s resolutions with our eyes closed and without the necessary tools, but we will formulate a plan and prepare to change our history this year.
These are some steps that I recommend so that you can fulfill your New Year’s resolutions:
make a list
Putting them on a list will make them tangible. We are not looking for country dreams, we want a plan of attack.
Check that list continually
It is useless to make the list and keep it between the pages of a book or even at the bottom of the cable drawer (we all have one); keep it in sight to continually remind yourself of what you want to achieve.
Formulate achievable and measurable goals
“Exercise more”, “read a lot”, “recover my lost clients”; all these, although very ambitious, are very general purposes that will be difficult to achieve and follow up on. I’m not saying don’t be ambitious, but don’t sabotage yourself either. Beam “intelligent purposes”:
a) That you can continuously measure. I recommend goals in short terms (for example, per week).
Reading more vs reading 10 pages of a book every day before 9am.
b) That they grow gradually. Exercising more vs:
- Month 1: Do 10 minutes of exercise 3 days a week.
- Month 2: Do 30 minutes of exercise 3 days a week.
- Month 3: Do 40 minutes of exercise 4 days a week.
b) Define concrete actions. Get back all my lost customers vs:
January: Call the top 10 clients I lost in 2015.
February: Send an email to the next 20 clients…
Commit to someone else to fulfill them
There’s no better pressure to accomplish something than committing to someone to do it, so don’t keep your New Year’s resolutions to yourself; make a pact with someone else to support each other. Another option is to publish your resolutions on social networks and continuously publish your progress; you will see that there are many people who will support you, and you do not want to make them look bad.
To give it with all!
At the end of the day (or the year, in this case), there will always be cynics and negative people who want to demotivate you; but the decision is up to you. This year is a new beginning, and you decide what you will do with it.
Will you seize the opportunity or will you believe those who say you can’t?