Here are some strategies to start the year off well.

3 Powerful Strategies For A Fabulous New Year

Although the start of a new year is a fairly arbitrary thing, it offers a priceless psychological gift – motivation!

Don’t waste this gift! Take advantage of the January 1 effect to get started the way you want the year to continue.

If you’re like most people, you’re hoping this is the year you get rid of clutter, lose weight, get organized, get healthier, achieve your goals…

To increase the chances that the new year is a fabulous year for you, apply the following strategies. Each one is surprisingly powerful, and can make a huge difference to the way you feel and function throughout the New Year. Read more…

Successful New Year’s Resolutions: 3 Things You Must Know To Achieve Goals and Change Habits

A study of people attempting to change diet and exercise habits, it took between 18 and 245 days for the new behavior to feel automatic.

The duration varied by person and habit, but the average was 66 days.

So 66 days is a good indicator when planning your own goal, habit change or new year’s resolution.

That means you need to allow at least a couple of months to get used to exercising… Read more…

New Year’s Resolutions: 3 Ways to Get Organized

Have you set new year’s resolutions to get better organized?

Here are three strategies for starting off the year on the right track – and boosting your chances of keeping those resolutions beyond January.

1. Scrap the storage

If you’ve got stuff squirreled away in storage, the attic or the garage, then this is the time to get rid if it. You probably don’t even know what’s there, do you?

Schedule a day to clear out your storage unit, attic or garage and take everything to the charity store or tip… Read more…

5 Steps To Making This Your Most Productive & Organized Year Ever

The way you use your diary makes all the difference to the way the year unfolds for you. Many things will be beyond your control, but how you spend your time, to a large extent, will be your choice.

Start thinking of time as your life resource. Learn to use your diary to manage time in ways that bring meaning, fulfilment and happiness to you, and to the people in your life.

Here are 5 steps for using a diary to make this your most productive and organized year ever. Read more…

Goals Goals Goals!

And here’s even more on achieving your goals and keeping your resolutions.

I hope the new year brings you meaning, happiness, love, and success in the things you hold dear.

See you in 2012 my friends!

Related posts:

1. New Year’s Resolutions: Posts & Resources
2. How To Change Habits: My 3-Cubed Formula
3. Successful New Year’s Resolutions: 3 Things You Must Know To Achieve Goals and Change Habits

Note: This post originally appeared as a Featured Article in the Get Organized newsletter.

We all have goals that seem out of reach.

Things we’ve wanted for a long time. Plans that never seem to come to fruition. Desires that we can’t fulfill, no matter how hard we try.

Some of the things people chase, sometimes for years or even decades, include:

• Following a career dream
• Writing a novel
• Getting free of clutter
• Losing weight
• Finding or improving a relationship.

If the desire is there, what stops us from getting something we want so much?

And what can we do to turn things around, so we can fulfil our dreams?

Here are three things that can flick the switch and help you to finally get what you’ve wanted for so long.

1. Know Why You Really Want It
(It Mightn’t Be The Reason You Think)

Take a good look at your reason for wanting the thing you want – your reason may be sabotaging you.

For example, let’s say you’ve always wanted to write a novel.

‘I want to be famous’, you say. ‘Like JK Rowling’.

So every time you think about writing your novel you feel pressured to write something popular and adventure-filled.

But what if popular and adventure-filled isn’t you? What if your real reason for wanting to write is to express a unique, interesting and funny voice that you feel inside? Then that voice will get strangled every time you try to write.

It’s worth taking a moment to write down the reasons you want your heart’s desire.

If a reason brings up resistance, then it may not be genuine. Perhaps it’s a reason you think you should have, or perhaps it’s someone else’s goal for you.

But if the reason stirs excitement, then congratulations – you’ve unlocked your true motivation.

Now you can use this real reason to drive yourself forward.

2. Have A Powerful Process

Unlocking genuine motivation is crucial – it’s difficult, if not impossible, to achieve a challenging goal without it.

But it’s not enough. All the motivation in the world won’t get you there if you have a sucky plan.

Let’s say you’ve always wanted to be an archaeologist/tree surgeon/stand-up comedian. Then you need more than a constant craving to realize your ambition.

You need a well-thought-out program of steps to complete, tasks to tick off, and knowledge to gain. That’s how you’ll bridge the gap from where you are now to where you want to be.

Depending on your heart’s desire, putting together a powerful program could be as simple as thinking through all the steps and writing yourself a plan.

You could take it up a notch by brainstorming with a friend, or reading books on your ideal career to boltser your strategy, or buying a book or program that provides a ready-made plan for you.

If you’ve had the same goal forever, then check how you score on this step. A clear map could be the missing element in your journey to success.

3. Change The Path of Least Resistance

One of the strongest, most intractable obstacles to achieving anything you want is habit.

You can have a pure, strong motivation as well as a fierce strategy for achieving your wishes. But if you’re stuck in habits that keep dragging you back to old ways, then it can feel like you’re doomed to frustration and failure.

For instance, let’s say you desperately want to lose weight, you know why, and you have a sound plan. But you keep giving in to late-night snacking. It’s such an established habit that you can’t imagine ever overcoming it.

So there’s one more strategy to add to our arsenal of true motivation and a powerful plan: it’s to change the path of least resistance.

You can think of the path of least resistance as a well-worn track through dense undergrowth – it takes tremendous energy and effort to go any other way. And most of us are too tired, busy and distracted to spare energy and effort for fighting foliage.

This is the toughest step in achieving a challenging goal. It takes insight, self-analysis, experimentation and persistence.

A good place to start is to look at your patterns – what underlies the habits that sabotage you? Are you snacking at night because you haven’t eaten enough through the day? Because you haven’t eaten the right kind of food? Because you’re looking for a reward after a tough day?

Once you see the reason for a habit that undermines you, you can trade willpower for smarter strategies. And unlike willpower, smart strategies can change the path of least resistance – they can forge a new track that doesn’t require bashing your way through bracken.

Perhaps you can eat a more satisfying dinner. Or more protein. Or have another reward (a scented bath? an hour of novel-reading?) prepared for tough days.

The idea is to identify what behaviours you naturally fall into, and then to look at ways to substitute other behaviors that still meet your underlying drives.

When you change the path of least resistance, you don’t have to fight yourself so hard. Instead, you align your desires and behaviour.

So now we know. This time, things will be different. Let’s get started.

Summary

If you’ve struggled to achieve your goal in the past, here’s how to make this time different:

1. Know Why You Really Want It
2. Have A Powerful Process
3. Change The Path of Least Resistance.

[Image by jepoirrier]

Related posts:

1. Smart Goals: 5 Steps To Smart Goal Setting (With Free Goal Planner Template)
2. Making A Good Impression: 7 Keys To A More Professional Image
3. Goal Setting 101: How To Use SMART Goals to Change a Habit

Our grand business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand. 

~ Thomas Carlyle

Have you been putting something off? Maybe you’ve been meaning to:

• Begin working toward a goal?
• Get organized at work?
• Declutter your home?
• Start a project?

It might be tempting to wait until some mythical perfect time. Perhaps when:

• You have more time (yeah, that’ll happen)
• You feel more motivated (um, ditto).

Let’s put aside for the moment the fact that a perfect time will never come. And that your life marches on, regardless of whether you do the things you plan to.

Instead, consider the three benefits that come with starting right now.

1. You Avoid Perfectionism

If you start today, this minute, your expectations will be low. You’ve had no time to build up an intimidating idea of what you should achieve.

By taking prompt action, you focus on doing and you stop over-thinking.

2. You Break The Procrastination Habit

In many ways, perfectionism and procrastination are two sides of the same coin. The harder you make something, the less you want to do it. If it has to be perfect, of course you’re going to avoid doing it!

But once you let go of unnecessarily high standards, procrastination loses much of its power.

Starting now is the solution to both perfectionism and procrastination.

Dubious? Start something, and see for yourself.

3. You Get Closer To The Result You Want

Even if all you do is 10 minutes of decluttering, exercising, outlining your novel, sketching a portrait – you’ll still move closer to the outcome you want.

And here’s the thing. Those first 10 minutes move you further forward than any other 10 minutes you’ll spend. Because next time, it will be so much easier to get back into it. Starting really is the hardest part.

So, with these three benefits associated with starting now, it’s worth taking that first step, don’t you think?

What Will You Start Today?

[Image by jakeandlindsay]

Related posts:

1. 11 Great Reasons To Be Happy
2. Do You Use Information as Procrastination?
3. Getting Organized Quick Tip: How To Short-Circuit Perfectionism and Procrastination

Clearing Clutter Can Increase Success

Jack Canfield points out that a cluttered physical environment can undermine success in several ways:

• Clutter drains energy
• Clutter hides problems
• Clutter blinds us to opportunities and ideas.

If you feel held back in your personal goals or career goals, could clutter be part of the cause?

Get Rid Of Clutter To Get Ahead On Your Goals

To get rid of clutter and clear the path to achieving your goals, survey the space where you want more success – at home, at work, or both. 

Look for things that inhibit your sense of mental clarity – stuff that distracts you, bugs you, or undermines you.

For example, look out for:

• Excess stuff you’ve been saving up for ages
• Piles of paperwork that need to be actioned, filed or discarded
• Procrastination demons – things you’ve been putting off for too long.

Every time you notice these things in your environment, they cause stress that can undermine you. So get rid of them!

• Start using your supplies, or if there’s too much, give it away. Have spares, but don’t hoard more than you need.
• Make a date in your diary to process your paperwork. Then, make a large cup of coffee or tea, put on some music, and power through those piles.
• Set aside a day or a weekend to systematically work through your procrastinated tasks. Make a list of tasks, and feel a growing sense of relief and energy as you check them off.

Getting rid of clutter may take a little time today, but it will move you closer to the things you want tomorrow.

Taking Action

What will you do today to remove clutter from your space?

Want More Help?

If you’d like more help getting rid of clutter, try my 52 Missions Home Organizer.

[Image by Christian Heindel]

Related posts:

1. Setting Goals, Achieving Goals – Tools for Success
2. Setting Goals, Achieving Goals – Dos & Don’ts
3. Organize Your Living Room for Holiday Entertaining: 15 Targets for Clutter Blindness

So I thought I’d share with you my personal resolutions for this half-year, plus my 3-Cubed Formula for achieving them – and invite you to join me in making habit changes of your own.

I’ll report back regularly on my progress, and would love you to share your progress too.

My 3-Cubed Formula

I’ve developed this 3-Cubed Formula for changing habits over many years. It’s based on my own trial and (especially) error, together with life coaching processes, and findings from psychology research studies.

Here’s how it works.

1. Choose Only 3 Habit Changes or Resolutions at a Time

Probably the biggest lesson I’ve learned from psych research, working with clients, and my own experience is that taking on too much is a surefire way to exhaust and de-motivate yourself.

Changing a habit is difficult enough as it is. It’s much better to succeed at an achievable pace, and then use that sense of mastery to set the bar a little higher next time.

Once you’ve gotten on top of one of your habits, you can replace it with a new challenge, so you always have 3 resolutions to work on.

2. Focus On What You Will Do, Not On What You Want to Avoid

The next major lesson I’ve learned is that it’s very difficult to make yourself not do something. Not eat chocolate. Not talk too much. Not be late.

As much as you might think the biggest challenges in your life are things you want to stop doing, I urge you to try it this way instead, and see how it works for you.

Frame your habit changes in positive terms – things to do, not things to not do.

You might need to get creative and look for things that:

• Are inconsistent with the thing you want to avoid
  –> EG Go to the gym; go for a walk; drink peppermint tea after dinner (if that’s when you usually smoke)
• Make you feel good about yourself so you’re less motivated to do the thing you want to avoid
  –> EG Wear jeans that look great when watching TV (so you won’t be as tempted to binge)
• Distract you from the thing you want to avoid
  –> EG Take up ballroom dancing (so you won’t be home to stalk your ex on Facebook).

Even if you still smoke, binge or stalk, at least you’ll be adding a good habit or good feelings to your life.

And chances are that if you persevere, you might just crowd the bad habit out of your life.

3. Place Your 3 Resolutions in 3 Places and Read Them 3 Times a Day

Once you’ve got your 3 habit changes or resolutions and you you’ve framed them in positive terms, put them in 3 places.

Ideally, you want to choose places where you’ll naturally come across your resolutions every day – like the bathroom mirror, your wallet, the fridge door, your bedside, your diary, etc.

Aim to read them to yourself – mentally or aloud – 3 times most days. This will help you to remember and focus on the things you’re committing to.

Got that? Okay, so now here are the 3 mid-year resolutions I’m making.

My Personal Resolutions

1. Drink at least 8 glasses of water every day.

Drinking lots of water helps me feel healthy.

It also stops me thinking I’m hungry when I’m really thirsty. One of my bad habits is eating way too many chips, which I find delicious and deeply, almost disturbingly, comforting. Drinking lots of water will help me save the chippies for when I really want them.

2. When I’m in a tense environment, focus on breathing.

Usually when I’m nervous or anxious I talk too much, leading me to say unhelpful or just plain dumb things.

So I want to get into the habit of being aware that I’m anxious, and focusing on my breaths. Breathing will distract me from becoming enmeshed in the tense situation, and slow down my rush to ramble.

3. Finish my writing tasks first each day.

The most important part of my job is to write, but I’m always tempted to get the little things out of the way first – emails, household chores, lesser priorities. And they can take all day, or at least my best energy (I call this the tyranny of the tiny).

So I’d like to procrastinate on the lower priorities till I’ve got at least one writing task completed each day.

Now over to you!

What 3 habit changes or resolutions will you set? Can you use my 3-Cubed Formula to increase your chances of success? Please share in the comments.

I’ll check in regularly to let you know how I’m doing.

[Image: By .:martu:.]

Related posts:

1. How To Live a Simpler Life: The 3-Cubed Formula [Get Organized Mission #52:]
2. Successful New Year’s Resolutions: 3 Things You Must Know To Achieve Goals and Change Habits
3. How To Kick Bad Habits: What To Do To Stop Doing What You Don’t Want To Do

We’re halfway through January and I keep hearing people say they’ve already failed at their new year’s resolutions.

Impossible! If you’ve ‘already failed’, then you’re simply not doing your goal setting, habit change or new year’s resolutions right. But you can fix that.

Here’s how.

3 Lessons for Achieving Goals, Changing Habits and Keeping New Year’s Resolutions

1. It Takes 21 66 Days to Change a Habit

In a study of people attempting to change diet and exercise habits, it took between 18 and 245 days for the new behavior to feel automatic. The duration varied by person and habit, but the average was 66 days.

So 66 days is a good indicator when planning your own goal, habit change or new year’s resolution.

That means you need to allow at least a couple of months to get used to exercising, living without cigarettes, getting organized, stopping an anger habit, or whatever else is on your 2010 goals list.

Not 3 days, after which many people give up, feeling virtuous for having ‘tried’.

Not even 21 days, as the conventional wisdom suggests.

But 66 days.

Lesson: If you’ve been working on your goal, habit change or new year’s resolution for less than 66 days, you’re not done yet.

2. You Need to Focus on Willpower What’s Achievable

Studies by the psychologist Baumeister suggest that willpower may be a limited resource – meaning it can be overtaxed and depleted.

It seems that trying to exert perfect control over behavior may sabotage your efforts in the long run. You ‘exhaust’ your self control, which can lead you to splurge/binge. (Sound familiar, dieters?)

Hmmm… So failed willpower may result less from your fundamentally flawed and detestable character, and more from pushing too hard.

A better strategy, then, might be to lower your expectations and go for persistence instead.

• Rather than: I’ll exercise every day for 60 minutes
  opt for: I’ll walk for 20 minutes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
• Rather than: I’ll give up chocolate completely
  opt for: I’ll have half the amount I normally have and savor it more.
• Rather than: I’ll spend 2 hours every night getting organized
  opt for: I’ll spend 30 minutes a week or 5 minutes a day on organizing tasks.

Once you achieve that, you can up the ante.

And the rest of the time, you can stop obsessing.

Lesson: If you oscillate between monastic willpower and rampant revelry, aim for something more achievable, and stick with it.

3. If You Miss a Day, It’s All Over It Makes No Difference

Another finding from the health habits study was that a day’s lapse was immaterial to successfully changing a habit.

Forget the all-or-nothing, black-and-white, on-or-off-the-wagon thinking that makes us give up at the first setback. Turns out we can be human, fail occasionally, and still manage to achieve our goals.

Lesson: If you drop the ball today, pick it up tomorrow.

Over to You…

What are your goals, habit changes or resolutions for 2010? How can you adjust your plans based on these 3 lessons from psych research?

[Image:http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_mistress/ / CC BY-SA 2.0]

Related posts:

1. How To Change Habits: My 3-Cubed Formula
2. Goal Setting 101: How To Use SMART Goals to Change a Habit
3. New Year’s Resolutions: Posts & Resources

[From Get Organized Tips Newsletter, Volume I, Issue 12]

Have you set new year’s resolutions to get better organized?

Here are three strategies for starting off the year on the right track – and boosting your chances of keeping those resolutions beyond January.

1. Scrap the storage

If you’ve got stuff squirreled away in storage, the attic or the garage, then this is the time to get rid if it. You probably don’t even know what’s there, do you?

Schedule a day to clear out your storage unit, attic or garage and take everything to the charity store or tip.

This is a motivating and satisfying way to kickstart your new year’s resolution to be better organized. And you can get it done in a day!

Power tip

If you’d rather chew off your own arm than sort through everything, then hire a professional organizer for a few hours. They’ll keep you focused and provide the momentum for you. The money you’ll save on storage will probably pay for the service, too.

2. Lighten the load

The less stuff you have, the easier it is to get organized and stay organized.

There are two prongs to having less:

• Buying less
• Getting rid of more.

The first is achieved by a shift of mindset – giving up the idea of shopping as a way to (a) pass time or (b) compensate for something else. Shop when you have things you need to buy. Otherwise, avoid the mall.

(Instead of shopping, use the time for another new year’s resolution – like exercise, personal development or time with family.)

The second prong is achieved by getting rid of things you don’t love or don’t use.

Do 30-minute purges like Fill a Hu-u-uge Trash Bag and Declutter 50 Items until you’ve got most of the excess out of the house, then use clutter-management strategies like A Ready-For-Donation Basket and Include cleaning up as part of every single task to maintain order.

Power tip

Can’t bring yourself to get rid of excess stuff? Then put it all in a box and give it to a nice friend. They’re to keep it for six months, then quietly take it it to the charity store or tip.

The six months will give you an emotional safety blanket, but chances are, you’ll forget all about the box of stuff.

3. Slot in some structure

Having someone else provide structure for your decluttering and organizing efforts can make it easier to get started and stay motivated. The less thinking and analyzing you have to do, the less opportunity to procrastinate. You can simply focus on doing it!

Look for a book at the store or library that offers a structured approach to personal, home or family organization. Or get a coach to help you set organizing objectives and stay accountable.

Or try one of my organizing products and programs:

• Life & Goal Organizer is a 360-degree system for organizing your whole life
• 52 Missions guides you to get organized in weekly, 30-minute projects
• Organize in 5 provides daily 5-minute organizing tasks
• Design Your Life is a comprehensive personal development program covering 12 life areas over one year.

Power tip

If you’re going to work through a book or program, it helps to have an organizing buddy.

You can encourage and motivate each other, share success and brainstorm problems.

If you want to turn your new year’s resolution to be more organized into a lifelong success, then these three strategies will set you up very well: attack your long-term storage, choose to have less stuff in your life, and use a program to keep you focused on personal organization.

[Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aussiegall/ / CC BY 2.0]

Related posts:

1. Getting Organized Quick Tip: How To Make SMART New Year’s Resolutions – Any Day Of The Year!
2. How to be Organized in 2009: The 12 Days of New Year’s Resolutions
3. NEW! 52 Organizing Missions Workbooks – For a More Organized 2010

What are your goals? Do you spend lots of time reading or learning about weight loss, starting a business, or getting your finances sorted, but never make any progress?

Information as Procrastination

Could you be using information as a form of procrastination – a way to trick yourself into thinking you’re doing something productive?

Some people spend their time and energy on an unending quest to read more, ponder more, discuss more. But they never get around to taking the actions that would move them closer to achieving their goals.

Focus on Motivation, too

Getting the information you need is smart and savvy – just don’t get stuck at the information-gathering stage. Keep learning and growing, but don’t excuse yourself from doing something with what you learn.

I suspect you already know enough to get started. What can you do today to move toward your goals? What action can you take?

Do it today.

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/phing/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Related posts:

1. Information Overload: How To Organize Online Information
2. How to Use Procrastination to Get More Done
3. Bust Your Procrastination Demons [Mission #25]

 

[Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hikingartist/ / CC BY 2.0]

You might find it easy to apply SMART goal principles to your life goals or other personal goals, like losing weight or getting better grades.

But what about changing habits – can SMART goal setting apply there, too?

In today’s class *puts on teacherly glasses* we’re going to turn a desired habit change into a SMART goal.

Speaking Up In Meetings

Let’s say Sally has plenty of good ideas but she keeps these to herself in meetings, and it’s holding her back, career-wise.

We’ll make a SMART goal of ‘speaking up in meetings’ for Sally. As we do each step, the goal will evolve.

Specific

‘Speaking up in meetings’ is vague. Let’s make it more precise:

I want to share good ideas or helpful comments in meetings.

✔ Now it’s specific - ‘good ideas’ and ‘helpful comments’, and only ‘in meetings’.

Measurable

How will Sally know if she’s on track?

I will share at least one good idea or useful comment in each meeting (unless I really have nothing useful to add).

✔ Sally can measure ‘at least one’ during each meeting.

Achievable

Is this something Sally can reasonably expect to do?

I will share at least one good idea or useful comment in each meeting.

✔ The goal is achievable for Sally – it’s only in meetings, which she can handle. If it were public speaking she might need more information or training before she could achieve the goal.

Relevant

Does this really matter to Sally?

I will share at least one good idea or useful comment in each meeting.

✔ This goal is relevant for Sally, because she wants to get promoted and participating in meetings is an issue. Your goal has to be relevant – otherwise you may give up at the first challenge.

Time-framed

We need to put a clock or calendar on this:

I will share at least one good idea or useful comment in each meeting for the next 2 weeks.

✔ This is time-framed – Sally will do it for at least 2 weeks. Then she can review her progress and discuss it with her boss.

Do Your Own SMART Goal Setting

Using the SMART goal approach imposes an extra level of commitment to habit change. As this example shows, you won’t get away with vague or half-hearted promises.

If you like, download my SMART Goal Planner Template to step you through the process.

Now isn’t that a smart way to tackle your habits?

Related posts:

1. Smart Goals: 5 Steps To Smart Goal Setting (With Free Goal Planner Template)
2. Setting Goals, Achieving Goals – Tools for Success
3. Setting Goals, Achieving Goals – Dos & Don’ts

[Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/flattop341/ / CC BY 2.0]

This week in The Age, Valerie Khoo discusses what your business tools reveal about your commitment:

The tools you use are an indication of how serious you are about your business. Do you have a dedicated website or are your using a free blogging platform like Blogger… Does your email address feature your own domain name or that of your internet service provider.

Valerie’s test of commitment can apply to many life areas:

• If you want to improve yourself, do you have quality books, programs and education?
• If you want to get fitter, so you have the workout wear to look and feel the part?
• If you want a successful business, do your promotional materials support you?
• If you want to get promoted, does your briefcase fit your future?
• If you want an organized home, do you have a filing cabinet, toy bins, a mini-vac?
• If you want to take charge of your money, do you have personal-finance software?
• If you want to be well-presented, do you have clothes that look and feel good?
• If you want to be happy, do you have the the simple things – like books or DVDs, paints or a guitar – that cheer you up? 

Time to get serious about your goals?

Think about your own goals. What do your tools say about how serious you are? If you’re struggling to achieve your goals, perhaps it’s time to upgrade the tools that support you.

As Valerie says, ‘The problem is that when we embark on new goals we’re often hesitant to invest in the tools we need to help us get there’.

Don’t buy something for the sake of it, but do ask yourself if you’re held back because there’s something you need. Good tools will better equip you to work toward your objectives.

But perhaps more importantly, it’s sometimes the investment we make that shows others, as well as ourselves, that we’re serious.

Your say

In what area are your tools – or lack of them – letting you down? 
Please share your comment at the bottom of this post.

Related posts:

1. Setting Goals, Achieving Goals – Tools for Success
2. Family Management Tools
3. Smart Goals: 5 Steps To Smart Goal Setting (With Free Goal Planner Template)

The reader raised the issue of our tendency to backslide when we try to make a fresh start, and wondered what we could do about it.

Here are some brief thoughts.

Why Self-Improvement is Like Slaying Vampires

1. Whenever we try to change or improve, we come up against pressure to regress to old, comfortable ways.

This is to be expected. Entropy rules in human nature, just as it does in the rest of the universe. New habits take work, as new pathways need to be forged in the brain.

2. Because of this, we have to be kind to ourselves when we backslide – we’re only human after all.

Pretending the resistance isn’t there, or beating ourselves up for our lack of willpower is simply denying reality.

3. But – and this is important – we also have to recognize that to be happy, and to enjoy a sense of progress and achievement in life, we have to keep working to maintain our gains, and to fight off the urge to regress.

Change is not a set-and-forget switch, it’s an ongoing process. We’re never done!

If you’ve ever watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer, this analogy might help:
To fulfill your destiny, you have to keep killing the vampires. They never stop, so neither can you.

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fluffgar/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Related posts:

1. Make a Fresh Start: 12 Days of New Beginnings
2. Fresh Start: 12 Days of New Beginnings [Day 8: Happiness]
3. 20 Things To Tick Off Before The End Of The Year

To get a jump start on a great academic year, set some college or school goals and make them Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Framed – SMART. Follow these 5 easy steps and you’ll be on your way.

How To Set SMART Student Goals

Say your goal is ‘To work harder at college’. Here’s how to make it SMART.

Step 1: Make it Specific

‘To work harder at college’ is too general. What exactly do you want to be different?  Do you want to take more courses? Write better essays? Do more research? Spend more time studying? Think about what actions will give you the best returns for your time and energy.

• Specific: I want to spend more time studying
• It helps if: You can picture it clearly

Step 2: Make it Measurable

How will you know when you’ve reached your goal? What’s the measurable outcome?

• Measurable: I’ll spend three hours on personal study for every 1 hour of classes
• It helps if: There’s an objective, defined outcome that you can tick off

Step 3: Make it Achievable

Reality-check time. Are you willing to do what it takes to stick with your goal? If you’re likely to feel overwhelmed and give up after a week, it’s better to choose a more achievable target you are willing to commit to.

• Achievable: I’ll spend two hours on personal study for every 1 hour of classes – that’s doable
• It helps if: Your goal and your commitment level are well matched

Step 4: Make it Relevant

You have a better chance of achieving your goal if it’s relevant to your life and other priorities. If it’s a ‘you really should’ from someone else, or a childhood plan you no longer care about, then ditch or update it.

For instance, if a friend wants you to take art classes with him/her but you have the artistic skill of a color-blind pea, choose something else. Make it relevant to your life or you’ll lose interest and motivation early on.

• Relevant: I’ll spend two hours on personal study for every 1 hour of math and science classes – which is relevant to my interest in math as well as to my goal of becoming a scientist
• It helps if: You aren’t fighting with yourself to reach your objective

Step 5: Make it Time-Framed

What’s a reasonable date or timeframe for your goal? Find a sweet spot between being so ambitious that you never really expect to succeed, and aiming so low you have zero incentive to try.

• Time-Framed: I’ll spend two hours on personal study for every 1 hour of math and science classes for each week of this semester
• It helps if: The time frame is close enough to energize you (looking too far ahead can be counter-productive if you feel like you can worry about it later)

Optimize Your Chance of Goal Success

To give yourself the best chance of achieving your objectives, use these bonus questions. They move you from planning to action.

1. What Resources Do You Need?

Make a list of all the things, people and information you need to achieve your objective. For instance:

• Take a hoodie to the library so I’m not cold
• Stock up on stationery so I can make notes 
• Buy a good book on study skills

2. What Needs To Be Scheduled In Your Diary?

Most goals need time and activities – make sure you have these allocated in your diary. For instance:

• Schedule a time to go to the shops and buy your hoodie, stationery and study-skills books
• Schedule a 2-hour study session in your diary for every hour of classes you have

3. What Milestones Are Important Along The Way?

It helps keep up your motivation if you give yourself little rewards for your progress along the way. Start by deciding which milestones to reward. For instance:

• Sticking to my study schedule for the first week
• Sticking to my study schedule for the first month
• Sticking to my study schedule for half the semester
• Sticking to my study schedule for the whole semester

4. What Rewards Will You Give Yourself?

Next, choose your rewards. For instance:

• Sticking to my study schedule for the first week – Go to the movies
• Sticking to my study schedule for the first month – Go to that new club
• Sticking to my study schedule for half the semester – Get some CDs
• Sticking to my study schedule for the whole semester – Get a new cell phone

Follow these steps and you’ll be on your way to student success!

Want Your Own Student Success Kit?

With the Ultimate To-Do List Pack | Student Edition you have a Student Success Kit – all the tools a student needs to get organized, plan a successful semester, and earn good grades.

The pack includes the essentials – to-do lists, goal planners, time-management tools, daily, weekly & monthly schedules and timetables, and budgets.

But it also contains many innovative worksheets to radically change your personal organizing skills – including:

- ‘Backwards’ assignment, exam and essay planners that take all the hassle out of getting things done on time
- Detailed semester planners that guide you to create a week-by-week student success program.

Learn more about the
Ultimate To-Do List Pack | Student Edition.

Your Student Success SMART Goal Planner

Download your own free SMART Goal Planner by clicking the link below. It’s an interactive PDF , so you can Type-&-Save or Print-&-Write.

Related resources:

• VIDEO: How To Use The SMART Goal Planner

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Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/notjake13/ / CC BY 2.0

Related posts:

1. 6-Point Strategy For Student Success
2. Student Planners Galore! [Product Release Info]
3. Setting Goals, Achieving Goals – Tools for Success

If you’re on track, congratulations! If not, here’s a quick tip for making resolutions that are a lot more likely to stick – any time of the year.

Getting Organized Quick Tip #2:

To improve your chance of achieving your goal, sticking to your resolution or realizing your plan, make it a SMART goal:

• Specific

• Measurable

• Achievable

• Relevant

• Time-framed.

If you’re not familiar with SMART Goals, you might like my article How To Set SMART Goals, which shows you how to take a generic resolution, like ‘losing weight’, and make it SMART.

The article includes a downloadable SMART Goal Planner, plus a video showing you how to use the Planner to set your own goals.

Try it yourself – and then I’d love you to share your ‘Before’ and ‘After’ goal or resolution in the comments.

Image by abakedcreation

Related posts:

1. New Year’s Resolutions: Posts & Resources
2. New Year’s Resolutions: 3 Ways to Get Organized in 2010
3. Getting Organized Quick Tip: How To Short-Circuit Perfectionism and Procrastination

How to Set SMART Goals

‘SMART’ is an acronym for 5 characteristics that help you set well-defined goals:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic Relevant
• Time-Framed

Say your goal is ‘To lose weight’. Here’s how to make it SMART…

Step 1: Make it Specific

‘To lose weight’ is vague. What exactly do you want your weight loss to look like?

• Specific: I’ll fit into my black skinny jeans
• It helps if: You can picture it clearly

Step 2: Make it Measurable

How precisely will you know when you’ve reached your goal? What’s at the finish line?

• Measurable: My black skinny jeans will zip up all the way
• It helps if: There’s an objective, defined point

Step 3: Make it Achievable

Here you run a reality check. Are you prepared to make the commitment your goal will take? If the skinny jeans are 12 sizes away, are you willing to dramatically alter your life? Is there a more achievable target you are willing to to work for?

• Achievable: My black skinny blue bootleg jeans will zip up all the way
• It helps if: Your goal and your commitment level are well matched

Step 4: Make it Realistic Relevant

Some people use Realistic here, but Achievable covers that territory. Instead, I suggest you make your goal Relevant to your life and other priorities. If it’s a ‘should’ inherited from someone else or out-of-date thinking, ditch or revise it.

For instance, if a weight-loss buddy thinks your goal should be to finish a marathon but you loathe running, competition and the outdoors, choose something else. Make it relevant to you or you’ll run out of steam early on.

• Relevant: My black skinny blue bootleg jeans will zip up all the way – which is relevant to my goals of being healthy and looking my best
• It helps if: You aren’t fighting with yourself to reach your objective

Step 5: Make it Time-Framed

What’s a reasonable date for achieving your goal? Strike a balance between being so ambitious you never expect to succeed and aiming so low you lack incentive to try. You can tweak the date as you make progress.

• Time-Framed: My black skinny blue bootleg jeans will zip up all the way – which is relevant to my goals of being healthy and looking my best – by July 1 2009.
• It helps if: The time frame is close enough to energize you (sometimes you need a series of sub–goals)

Optimize your chance of goal success: Bonus Steps

To really boost your likelihood of reaching that outcome, here are some extra questions to ask yourself during goal-setting activities. These move you from planning and strategizing to action.

1. What resources do you need?

Make a list of all the things, people and information you need to achieve your objective. For instance:

• Ask Sally to be my goal buddy
• Buy comfortable walking shoes
• Buy a rain hoodie
• Get some motivation magazines

2. What needs to be scheduled in your diary?

Most goals need time and activities – make sure you have these allocated in your diary. For instance:

• Schedule 3 x 30-minute walks per week
• Schedule 2 x bike rides per week
• Schedule menu planning
• Schedule menu shopping

3. What milestones are important along the way?

It helps keep up your motivation if you mark your progress along the way with rewards. Start by deciding which milestones to reward. For instance:

• Jeans go over my knees
• Jeans go over my hips
• Jeans zip up with effort
• Jeans zip up comfortably (final)

4. What rewards will you give yourself for reaching those milestones?

Next, choose your rewards. For instance:

• Jeans go over my knees – Get a manicure
• Jeans go over my hips – Get a pedicure
• Jeans zip up with effort – Get a facial
• Jeans zip up comfortably – Get a full-body massage

Follow these steps and you’ll be well on your way to achieving your goal.

Free SMART Goal Planner Template

I’ve got a great tool to help you – a Goal Planner Template that guides you through all the steps above. It’s fully interactive too – you can enter your text onscreen, save, print, and re-use. Simply save the PDF or open it with Adobe Reader. Let me know what you think!

Here’s how to use the SMART Goal planner. In this example we set a goal of 25 push-ups in a row.

5 Mistakes of Goal Setting – And How To Avoid Them

Want to set goals that harness your motivation, avoid procrastination and overcome self-sabotage?

Then take our free goal-setting e-course: 5 Mistakes of Goal Setting – And How To Avoid Them.

The 5-part e-course covers:

• e-Class 1: Are Vague Goals Destroying Your Motivation?
• e-Class 2: Do You Know Where The Finish Line Is?
• e-Class 3: Be Honest – Is It A Goal Or A Fantasy?
• e-Class 4: Are You Sabotaging Yourself?
• e-Class 5: Is Procrastination Your Problem?

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Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sgooglesgoogle/ / CC BY-ND 2.0

Related posts:

1. Goal Setting 101: How To Use SMART Goals to Change a Habit
2. Setting Goals, Achieving Goals – Tools for Success
3. Setting Goals, Achieving Goals – Dos & Don’ts

But they don’t only apply to diet and exercise. Consider these nifty reminders when you’re thinking about any objectives you want to set for yourself:

Dos & Don’ts for Goal Setting

• DO create a plan. DON’T wait for “someday” to roll around.
• DO start small. DON’T focus on too many things at once.
• DO write it down. DON’T forget to give yourself a deadline.
• DO be specific. DON’T deal in absolutes.
• DO leave room for failure. DON’T expect perfection.
• DO track your progress. DON’T fool yourself into failure.
• DO reward your success. DON’T beat yourself up over failure.
• DO find a support system. DON’T try to do it alone.
• DO make a commitment. DON’T ever forget that you can do it.

Check out the post for more detail on each do/don’t.

Over to you

Do you have your own goal-setting tips?
To add your comment, simply click ‘Comment’ at the very top of this post or scroll down to the bottom. (Depending on how you’re viewing this post, one of those options will be available for you.)

See also: Setting Goals, Achieving Goals – Tools for Success

Image by Wade Rockett

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Related posts:

1. Setting Goals, Achieving Goals – Tools for Success
2. Is Clutter Stopping You From Achieving Your Goals?
3. Goal Setting 101: How To Use SMART Goals to Change a Habit

10 Tools for Goal Achievement

Lifehacker’s Top 10 Tools for Sticking to Your New Year’s Resolutions is a collection of tools and strategies that are just as useful for goals as for resolutions.

My faves are:

10. Schedule your goals inside your high-energy times

My productivity benefits from scheduling thinking work in the afternoons, when I’m more creative and clear-headed. Mornings are great for admin, emails and returning calls.

9. Make them S.M.A.R.T.

SMART stands for:

• Specific

• Measurable

• Achievable

• Realistic Relevant

  (I think achievable and realistic hit the same note. Relevant matters because you’re more likely to persevere with and achieve a goal that meshes with your larger life goals.)

• Time-framed.

I love this approach – all my Wizards and the Life MakeOver Journal include SMART goal planners.

7. Channel your Inner Seinfeld—Don’t break the chain

The post includes web apps for building your Seinfeldian chain.

Over to you

Do you use any of these tools? Got any faves?
To add your comment, simply click ‘Comment’ at the very top of this post or scroll down to the bottom. (Depending on how you’re viewing this post, one of those options will be available for you.)

See also: Setting Goals, Achieving Goals – Dos & Don’ts

Image by flattop341

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Related posts:

1. Setting Goals, Achieving Goals – Dos & Don’ts
2. Goal Setting 101: How To Use SMART Goals to Change a Habit
3. Smart Goals: 5 Steps To Smart Goal Setting (With Free Goal Planner Template)

We’re still in the first few days of our new rotation around the sun.

(Thinking about a year that way always makes me feel teeny and excited at the same time.)

It’s the perfect opportunity to focus on what you want for 2009, and to get organized to make your changes stick.

To help you get started, I’m going to spend the next 12 days posting ideas for new year’s resolutions you might like to choose for yourself, along with tips for making the new habits part of your life.

The 12 Days of New Year’s Resolutions for Better Personal Organization

Each day I’ll focus on a different life area:

Day 1: Personal Development

Day 2: Health & Fitness

Day 3: Career & Work

Day 4: Fun & Recreation

Day 5: Managing Technology

Day 6: Home

Day 7: Personal Presentation

Day 8: Strategies for Happiness

Day 9: Money & Finance

Day 10: Relationships

Day 11: Time Management

Day 12: Partridge in a pear tree Family

Diversify or intensify

You might like to choose a resolution from each life area – giving you 12 items of personal organization, nicely diversified across your life, to improve as the year goes along.

Or you might want to up the intensity and pick a bunch of resolutions from one particular area that you aim to transform in 2009.

Progress, not perfection

Whatever you choose, take it easy. You’re unlikely to persist if a goal is too big or requires too much time and effort from your already busy life. Go for progress, not perfection, and let the momentum from small successes carry you along.

Ready to make 2009 the year you organize your life? Then see you back here tomorrow for Day 1!

Picture above adapted from image by Aldon.

Special New Year’s Resolution Price on Get Organized Wizard

For my female readers:

If you’re looking for a motivating, comprehensive tool to help you organize your whole life,
you’ll love Get Organized Wizard for Smart Women.

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Please social bookmark it!

Related posts:

1. Getting Organized Quick Tip: How To Make SMART New Year’s Resolutions – Any Day Of The Year!
2. 2009: A Happier, More Organized Year
3. New Year’s Resolutions: 3 Ways to Get Organized in 2010